Narrative of a residence at the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, with a description of the manners, customs, and laws of the modern Siamese

.

JN7

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHOU-FAA, T1JE REIGNING PRINCE OF SIAM.

See page 87-

N

NARRATIVE

OF A

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

BY FREDERICK ARTHUR NEALE,

Authoi' of "Eight Years in Syria," &c.

LONDON :

OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY,

227, STRAND.

1852.

DATE

PR

CES

JAN2

NARRATIVE OF A

AT THE CAPITAL OF

THE KINGDOM OF SIAM;

\

WITS A DESCRIPTION OF

THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND LAWS

MODERN SIAMESE.

BY

PEED. ARTHUR NEALE,

Formerly in the Service of his Siamese Majesty ; Author of " Eight Years
in Syria, Palestine, and Asia Minor."

LONDON:

OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL ILLUSTKATED LIBRARY,

227, STRAND.

1852.

LONDON :

IKADBURY AND EVANS, PEINTERS, \VHTTEKRIAKS.

ADVERTISEMENT.

AT a time when the relations of this country with the
nations east of the Ganges are occupying much attention, it
is hoped that the following work, relating to a country
hitherto very imperfectly known to Europeans, will prove
interesting to the British public. "With the territory of
Siam, lying as it does between the Burmese empire, with
which we are now at war, and the confines of China, we
must ultimately have greater intercourse than we have
hitherto had. The Siamese and the Burmese look on each
other with what reason is a different question as " natural
enemies," and ultimately the extension of our commerce, if
not of our political power, in that region of Asia, will render
it absolutely necessary that we should have some firm
commercial footing in Siam.

In the following work, while a personal narrative is given
of the experiences of the author in that country, an attempt
has also been made to give, from accurate and original
sources, some account of the manners and customs, the cha-
racter and disposition, of the Siamese ; but, above all, of the

vi ADVERTISEMENT.

natural wealth and resources of the district, and of the
mode in which these could be developed. A chapter has
been added on the History of Siam, and another on recent
embassies to the Siamese court, in which it is hoped a
sufficiently impartial account is given of the difficulties of
Siamese negotiations, to counterbalance what may be con-
sidered by many as the somewhat sanguine views of the
author.

The engravings have all been prepared from drawings
made in the country, and their accuracy may be relied on.

LONDON, May 1, 1852.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

WHEN I first undertook to compile, partly from notes and
partly from a pretty retentive memory, the incidents and
narrations which compose the following brief sketch of the
Siamese, their manners and customs, and the nature and
produce of their country, I had already run the gauntlet
through the host of critics and reviewers, who kindly
condescended to discuss the merits, or otherwise, of my first-
born literary production, " Eight Years in Syria, Palestine,
and Asia Minor." It is needless to say, that trembling as I
did under the ordeal, my alarm was only exceeded by my
gratitude for the lenient, nay, in some instances, flattering
reception I met with from the public press. This, and this
alone, has induced and emboldened me to assume afresh the
steel pen of modern authorship, and though I do not aim at
distinction on the score of enlightening the British public
on the all-important subject of the statistics and commercial
wealth of an empire, rich indeed in its natural produce, and
but slightly known to the majority of readers, still, I am not
without hope that this volume may contain some information

viii AUTHORS PREFACE.

regarding the habits of a people who are at the best semi-
barbarous, at the same time that some small knowledge may
be gleaned regarding the national wealth and commercial
enterprise of Siam.

I may here, in self-defence, state that at the period of my
visit to that distant Eastern empire, I was, though even then
somewhat of a traveller, quite young both in years and
understanding: were it not for this, I should have most
assuredly amassed more valuable information to offer to the
public ; but geographical information and statistics are not
often the hobbies of youth, and a shooting party or a rowing
match had, at that period, more charms for me than the
pursuit of more useful knowledge.

F. A. NEALE.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Departure from Singapore. Squally weather. Dangerous situation of the
ship. Experience of a Typhoon near Pulo Obi. Description of it. Pro-
gress to Siam. Slaughter of the ducks. Arrival at the Bar of Siam .

CHAPTER II.

Paknam. Arrival of ship reported, and permission requested to enter and
proceed up the river. Consequences of not complying with this rule.
Proceed up the river Menam. Description of Paknam. Its fortress.
Siamese King's permission to all the world to dine. Paknam villagers.
Incident with the natives. Punishment of priests, &c., for an attack on the
English. Paknam houses. The Government-house. Siamese ladies.
Description of the Menam. Scenery. Birds. Native canals. Paklat
Boon. Dockyards. First sight of Bangkok. American missionaries.
Appearance of Bangkok in the morning. Junks. Description of houses.
Accident to one. Population of Bangkok. Fall into the river. Mr.
Hunter. Order from Prince Chou-Faa to cast a cannon Tombs. Prisons.
Markets. Annoyance from Crows. Siamese aversion to walking. Mode
of passing the day among the residents of Siam. Account of the French
Missions ... 12

CHAPTER III.

Royal dockyards in Bangkok. Siamese navy. Quarrels with Cochin Chinese.
Names of Siamese ships of war, all British. How given. Composition
of the crews. Labourers in the dockyard. House of the Portuguese consul.
Anecdote about bricks. Story of vacancy among floating houses.

CONTENTS.

JAGE

Rebellion of Peer-si-pifoor. How it was arrested. Awful punishment of
the rebel. Mr. Neale's audience with the king. Wonderful Siamese map.
Tombs of the three kings 42

CHAPTER IV.

Marriage ceremonies Description of a Siamese beauty and her accomplish-
ments. Siamese courtship. Negotiation with the parents. The Bride-
groom's new canoe. Funeral rites of the Siamese. Burning of Bodies . 68

CHAPTER V.

Geographical description of Siam. Account of the inhabitants. Chinese part
of the population. Articles of commerce. Native wealth of Siam. Veget-
able and mineral. Seasons why it is not developed. Gamboge. Pet rats.
The Tokay. Adventures with. Birds. Fruits. Climate of Bangkok.
Food of the Siamese. Intoxicating drinks. Samshoe. General tem-
perance of the people. Prevalent diseases. Digression on the effect of
change and custom on our ideas of beauty. Description of the Monsoons.
Ravages of Cholera. Precautions against. Kitchen vegetables. The
tea-plant 67

CHAPTER VI.

The Prince Chou-Faa. His friendship for the English. His desire for know-
ledge. Drill of his artillery soldiers. Terrible effect of a man-of-war's
salute. The Prince's skill in making and repairing watches. His
melancholy and its causes. His wives and children. Account of a carouse
at his palace on Christmas day, 1840. Siamese game of battledoor and
shuttlecock. Chinese theatrical performance. Sketch of the drama. The
Christmas dinner. Visits to the temples of the White Elephants. De-
scription of the watts. The two elephants 87

CHAPTER VII.

Chanti Boon. Its situation and buildings. Account of the attempt of a
Chinese Captain to run away with a richly laden Siamese Government
trader. Mode of conducting business at Chanti Boon. Adventure with the
Siamese officer of Customs. Monkeys and snakes. Description of the
country. Siamese cookery. The White Ant and the Cobra di Capello.

CONTENTS.

Use of the ant-hills by the latter. Feeding of the Cobra by the natives.
Tringano. Passage across Siamese Gulf. Encounter with a whirlwind.
Bardia. Champon. Effect of a salute of twenty-one guns. Collectio
of tribute from the Rajah. Return voyage 102

CHAPTER VIII.

Festival of the Peace Offering. Legend which has given rise to the festival
Procession of the inhabitants to celebrate it. Description of the cere-
monies. Peculiar mode of catching fish. Description of a supper supplied
by a Chinese. Visit to the ruined city of Yuthia. Return to Bangkok . 125

CHAPTER IX.

General character of the Siamese. General inoffensiveness of their disposition.
Their dress. Their passion for gambling. Smoking opium. Description
of its effects. Their skill as swimmers. Adventure of an American who
could not swim. Want of beauty in ladies of Siam. Use of betel-nut.
Ceremonies at birth of a child. Amusements of ladies in the higher
ranks. Siamese women excellent housewives. Education of children.
Selling of daughters. General summary of Siamese character 147

CHAPTER X.

Dispute between " Governments of Siam and Cochin China. Confiscation of
Siamese vessels in Cochin China ports. Reprisals. Fury of the King of
Siam. His councils always held at night. Army sent to frontiers. Ship of
war " the Caledonia " ordered for sea. Author put in command of 250
marines. Character and discipline of the Ship's crew. Cruel instructions
given to the Officers. Encounter a severe storm. Ship nearly lost.
Curious adventures of a cargo of Sugar on board. Return of Vessel . . 161

CHAPTER XI.

Trade of Siam. Imports from China. Excellent quality of Tea. Sugar Candy,
Silks, Cloths, Ivory Carvings, Writing Paper, Toys, &c. Mode in which
business is transacted with Chinese Junks. All the crew owners and
traders. Harmony with which they manage their affairs. -Imports from
India. Meagreness of Imports from Britain. Exports. System on which
business is conducted. Treatment of Bankrupts. Reasons for supposing
that trade between Britain and Siam could be greatly extended . . 173

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.

PAGE

Shooting Excursion. " The Friends' " Cutter. Fishing for Pomphlets. Landing
at Pigeon Island. Description of the Island. Shooting Pigeons. Govern-
ment Despatch Boxes. Amusing Adventure with one. Fire at Bangkok.
Attack on Mr. Hunter's house. Breaking out of the Cholera. Aiithor
returns home . 189

CHAPTER XIII.

A Brief Sketch of the History of Siam 206

Recent Embassies to Siam 221

Siamese Songs 229

Siamese Music 234

Siamese Language 238

Loubere's Account of the Siamese 242

Maxims of the Priests of Siam . 251

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.

Page
!T OF THE KING OP SIAM .... Frontispiece.

MAP OF SIAM xvi

BEATING OFF THE COAST OF CAMBOGIA 5

ANCHORAGE OFF THE BAR OF SIAM 10

FORTRESS AT PAKNAM 14

PAKLAT BELO 21

PAKLAT BOON 23

THE FLOATING CITY BANGKOK 30

MR. HUNTER'S HOUSE 33

DRY DOCK, BANGKOK 43

PORTUGUESE CONSULATE AND MISSIONARY HOUSES, BANGKOK . 47

SIAMESE MAP 55

ESPLANADE AT PRINCE CHOU-FAA'S PALACE 89

GAME OF SHUTTLECOCK, AS PLAYED IN SIAM . . . .94

VIEW OF A WATT OR TEMPLE 98

ENTRANCE TO CHANTI BOON RIVER 108

VIEW OF CHANTI BOON 112

PULO BARDIA 120

CHAMPON 121

SANGORA STRAITS OF TANTALEM . . . .122

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS.

Page
WORKING THROUGH PULO SANTINGO AND GREAT REDANG . . 123

TRINGANO . 124

CHINESE COOK ON THE MENAM 146

MAN AND WOMAN OP SIAM 149

OPIUM SMOKING IN SIAM 150

SIAMESE WARRIOR .154

INTERIOR OF A SIAMESE HOUSE 202

SIAMESE PUNISHMENT 233

BAND OF SIAMESE MUSICIANS % . 234

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHAPTEE I.

Departure from Singapore. Squally weather. Dangerous situation of the ship.
Experience of a Typhoon near Pulo Obi. Description of it. Progress to Siam
Slaughter of the ducks. Arrival at the Bar of Siam.

AVING travelled over
the greater part of the
Madras Presidency and
revelled in its mangoes,
been at Bombay and
tasted its famed ducks
(a species of fish), so-
journed at Penang and
Malacca and feasted on
mangostins, I found my-
self, in the spring of 1840, a dilettante
at Singapore, a waster of time and
dollars, with a wish to remain and
a desire to depart, and in a sad
unsettled state of mind as to the next
part of the world most desirable to
visit, for even China and Sumatra
were stale to me.

In this dilemma I one day en-
countered the captain of a fine Bombay
ship, called the " Adelaide : " I had before made a voyage

2 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

with her from Penang to Tellicherry on the Malabar coast, and
a merry time we had of it on board.

" Holloa ! " exclaimed the captain, " you here ! why what
port are you bound for now 1 "

" That is just the question I was about to put to you myself,"
was my rejoinder.

" Oh, as for me," he replied, " I am bound for Bangkok, in
Siam, and sail to-morrow evening if the weather permits, a
queer outlandish place it is, and if you have nothing better to
do, take a trip down there with me ; I'll go bound you won't
repent the voyage."

" Agreed," said I ; and agreed it was. I went to mine hotel,
packed up my effects, took an affectionate farewell of mine
hostess, bid adieu to Singapore, and got into a boat that rowed
manfully for the good ship " Adelaide."

The best cabin in the ship was allotted to me, and as I was
quite an old stager at voyaging, I occupied myself the whole of
next day in putting things into shipshape order : my bed was
well slung ; my clothes properly arranged ; books, and charts,
and paint-boxes, and instruments, secured from tumbling off the
locker ; one or two little pictures slung upon brass hooks in
conspicuous places ; and this completed, I was ready to set
forth on my voyage to explore lands hitherto unexplored
by me.

Towards evening a great many queer-looking packages came
off, and a little later, Monseigneur the Roman Catholic Bishop
of Singapore, accompanied by two grave and demure-looking
priests. These chattered like so many starved parroquets till
nigh upon nightfall, and then Monseigneur and one priest
departed, while the other remained, and I made the important
discovery that this priest was going to be my fellow-passenger.

" Parlez-vous Frangais 1 " inquired the priest.

" Non, Signer, non intende," was my reply ; for I was then as
ignorant of French as a savage is of Latin grammar. He nodded
his head, however, to a basket, and withdrawing therefrom a

STORM IN THE CHINA SEAS. 3

bottle of Maraschino, he made me understand that we should
partake of the same.

Now, this was sense, and a language that any man could
understand ; so we clinked our glasses together, and from this
period became the best of bosom friends.

Sailors have a horror of priests and black cats, and it so
happened that we had both these harmless creatures on board at
starting. The cat, however, was soon flung overboard by the
mate, and if he had not had a fear of judge and jury, the priest
would certainly have followed the cat on some occasion, when
a dark night and a favourable opportunity presented itself.

The next morning we weighed anchor and sailed through the
Straits, passing along almost within stone-throw of the eastern
shores. Pedro Blanco, a small rock in the middle of the channel
was safely passed, and by night we were fairly launched into the
China Seas. Whilst beating off Cape Romania, we experienced
thick foggy weather and squalls, which rendered navigation
perilous amongst the many islands and shoals with which these
seas abound ; at daylight, the morning after quitting Singapore,
we had ample proof of the necessity of a wary watch being kept
to look out for the hidden perils of the deep. Scudding before
a squall under very light canvas, we discovered through the
mist that surrounded us the dim outline of land not two hundred
yards ahead, and upon which the surf was roaring and foaming
in a most fearful manner : in putting the ship about, she missed
stays, and we were all on the very threshold of perdition. The
captain was as pale as a wintry moon, and as for the Lascars,
they were rushing and tearing about like a posse of chickens
that had just caught sight of a hawk, knocking over each
other and everybody they met. The Serang, or chief boat-
swain, upset the poor Padre, and before he could recover
his equilibrium he received grievous bodily injury, and was
trodden nigh unto death. In this sad dilemma my poor
skill in nautical matters was put to the test. I was then cer-
tainly what finished seamen would term a " lubber," and ever

B2

4 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

afterwards I never pretended to great honours ; but at that
moment of peril I became inspired with a knowledge foreign to
my intellect. With death staring me boldly in the face ; with
destruction painted in every billow, and complete extermination
uttered by every foaming surge that spread far and wide around
us ; with echoing knells from every pierced rock and empty
cavern, my cool self-possession never forsook me. I felt pre-
assured that such a frightful death, such a torture amongst
sharp-pointed flinty rocks and dashing pitiless spray was not
then my destiny : and the poor clay, clad with a soul's radiancy,
was not fated to become a merry feast for the hawk and the
vulture, or the equally carnivorous sea-gulf.

Braced up and encouraged by such a presentiment, I took
upon myself the command of the vessel, not directly but
indirectly. I hinted to the captain the absolute necessity of
trying to wear the ship ; he followed my advice, but alas ! even
here the helm failed to command the impetuous progress towards
destruction, and the command was given to let fly all but the
spanker ! The ship spun round like a top ; and then hoisting up
the fore-topsail and backing it, we floated past land and dangers,
and by mid-day found that we had passed through Pulo Tiuggi
and Pulo Aor, and setting all sails on the larboard tack, sighted
and passed the high land of Tioman, steering as direct a course
as we could for Pulo Obi, on the Eastern extremity of the
gulf of Siam.

A day and a night, and half a day, we were spanking away
under all available sail. Then came a little mizzling rain, and
the glass was falling quickly, and everything around warned
us of an approaching storm. It came before nightfall: first
there was a dead calm, and the water was as smooth as a
mill-pond ; then a dark line upon the deep came as avant-courier
of the tempest ; bringing a mild heavenly breeze, invigorating one,
and instilling fresh life after the sultry heat of the day ; at intervals
the wind became squally, and shifted all round the compass.
From the heavy dark bank of clouds to the southward, we felt

O RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

well assured that a typhoon was raging in the China Seas ;
accordingly our best and safest plan was to keep, if possible,
in the gulf, where the sea, being land-locked on several sides,
afforded shelter to a certain extent. We worked tack-and-tack
as the squalls shifted. Towards midnight the squalls became
more violent, and kept on stiffening till they settled down into a
gale ; the gale became a hurricane, and the hurricane a tornado,
that turned into a typhoon.

We had luckily but the fag-end of this terrific tornado, which,
in one dark gloomy night, sent upwards of a thousand men to
a sad grave in a fathomless deep. The "Golconda," bound
from Singapore to China, with part of the 37th Kegiment Madras
Native Infantry, was supposed to have foundered on this very
identical night ; this much is certain, that she exchanged
signals the previous day with a vessel bound for the Straits, and
from that hour to this, neither stick, nor plank, nor any remnant
of those brave and generous hearts that proudly throbbed in
expectation of victory's brightest laurels, has ever come to light
to let man know to what mysterious and fearful end those
hapless people came, or how or where they found a troubled
resting-place in those deep sullen waters beneath the wave,
whose quiet, still repose, no storm has ever yet sought to disturb.

The night passed heavily ; and roughly were we tossed from
wave to wave. Then came the acme" of our troubles : long, long,
before it reached us, had we seen the fiery lightning, darting
fury from the sombre heavy clouds that hung in pinnacles upon
a tempest-built bank. Then there was a murmuring like the dis-
tant voice of many waters that had burst from their bondage,
and were now bearing down and carrying everything before
them : borne on the wings of the gale, the thunder-clouds came
rapidly spreading over us ; flash followed upon flash of vivid
sulphureous lightning, and in the short interval between each
transparent flame of light, the vision was dimmed with an
impenetrable black misty haze, too mysteriously awful for
descriptive powers to depict. None remained on deck ; every

ABATEMENT OF THE STOEM. 7

stitch of canvas had long since been furled ; the very helmsman,
tottering with fear and consternation, backed the helm amidship,
and fled precipitately below ; and the vessel was left to the mercy
of those elements which were then waging war like demons in
their might. A dazzling, vivid, lingering stream of fiery light ;
a black and frightfully dark instant of suspense ; an atmosphere
charged with sulphureous smoke ; and then there burst upon the
ears one mighty and stupendous crash of dinning thunder more
loud than all the world's artillery, and mines, and shells, and
rockets could, combined, produce. The vessel shook and quivered
like a timid bird, and one huge splinter from the shattered
mainmast traversed the poop-bulwarks, imbedding itself as
firmly in the cuddy lockers as ever did the strongest javelin,
thrown by the mightiest arm of giant strength, into some
sapling oak.

The storm was done. We had been flying till we had out-
sailed its circling bounds. The lightning had swept by, to heap
destruction on the forest trees of the then still distant shores of
Siam. And as morning broke the crew stole forth on deck
to find the proud gay bark a wretched mastless wreck, with
shrouds and cords, and booms and spars, and yards and masts
scattered in every direction ; some splintered into minute pieces ;
others towing overboard in heavy knotted masses; and the
whole in such a state of entangled confusion as to be seemingly
beyond the reach of hope or remedy to the inexperienced eyes
of landsmen. Most fortunately, the whole succeeding day we
were in a perfect calm. Axes, and cutlasses, and knives were
hard at work, boats were lowered, the rigging and spars overboard
secured, the parts on deck unrove, jury masts set up and
firmly lashed, and so well did the old Serang and his Lascar
crew work that day, that by evening we had two courses and a
small driver rigged, and set two topgallant as topsails on studding-
sail booms, which swung up and down, as the weather proved
fair or foul ; the decks were clean swept ; the odds and ends of
the wreck, bits of ropes, spars, &c. &c., all stowed under hatches ;

8 BESIDENCE IN STAM.

and we were as comfortable and cozy on board as though nothing
had happened, or no such thing as a typhoon existed.

Light winds and variable succeeded, with calms and weather
sultry in the extreme : the tide set us to leeward, and if we made
twenty miles one day, we lost thirty the next ; this was bad
enough for two or three days, but when it continued for a
week and upwards, it was enough to exhaust the patience of a
saint. One or two of the water-casks which had been lashed
on deck became leaky from the effects of the sun's fierce rays ;
the planks on the deck began to start, the seams came
uncaulked, the paint curled off the bulwarks, and the heat in
the cabin was most stifling and appalling.

The captain lost all patience ; he swore at everything he
could think of, from the cat to the priest. The gulf, he said,
must be the dwelling-place of evil spirits, who had the power
of tempting man to sin, and inducing him to swear against his
own will. The cabin-boy and the cook bore the brunt of his ill-
humour ; he buffeted the one because the cabin was hot and
uncomfortable, and cuffed the other because the soup was cold
and clammy. And woe betide the cat, or rather cats (for there
were several of a different hue to the black one, which had met
with an untimely end) ; woe betide the cats if he caught them
pilfering. All the crew were immediately set to work to hunt
out the two felons, and when caught, their two tails were lashed
together with spun-yarn, so scientifically knotted, that nothing
but the loss of the tails could separate them. In this wretched
plight they were swung over a rope drawn taut for this express
purpose, and there left to battle out the watch between them-
selves. Such a mawl-rowing, and growling, and spluttering, and
spitting, and scratching, and biting, was never witnessed between
two feline combatants. Each 'culprit presumed the other to be
the immediate cause of the pain and suffering entailed upon it by
its tail being cruelly squeezed and pinched, and sought mutual
retribution for injuries received ; but Capt. C. was by no
means innately a cruel man, and the moment his wrath was

PULO OBI. y

diverted by seeing the cats suspended in this atrociously ludicrous
method, and before they inflicted any serious injury on each
other, he cut short the combat by cutting down the rope.

Twelve days elapsed from quitting Pulo Aor before we caught
sight of land again, and then we were not much gratified by the
land we sighted proving to be Pulo Obi or Ubi, on the south-
western extremity of Cochin China. In one instance, however,
it proved lucky and even gratifying ; it enabled us to procure a
fresh supply of water and provisions, and afforded me an oppor-
tunity of visiting its little-frequented shores, and of having a
whole day's rest on terra firma, pleasantly occupied in exploring
a wild and singular land. A large Chinese junk lying at anchor
was an excellent guide for us, and we brought up within a
cable's length of it. The junk turned out to be an annual
trader from Canton to Bangkok, and having experienced very
rough treatment from the same typhoon in which we had
been dismasted, had been compelled to run into the harbour
of Pulo Obi, not only for water and provisions (which had been
all washed overboard), but to procure if possible a new mat sail,
the only one she had left being in a very tattered and wretched
condition.

Pulo Obi is the resort of a few roguish Cochin Chinese, who
have been exiled their country for various offences against the
state. At the time that Crawfurd visited this island, there were
only eight people residing upon it ; where we landed, there was
a village of some thirty huts, containing about from ninety to
one hundred inhabitants, and overrun with pigs, ducks, and
fowls. Each head of a family possesses a tract of enclosed land,
in which are grown yams, sweet potatoes, and a few other
vegetables. Sailors of junks arriving from China eagerly barter
tea, sweetmeats, birds'-nests, and other edibles, for live-stock and
yams. Sailors of Siamese vessels barter rice, ghee, dholl, and
other necessaries, for fresh vegetables and poultry ; so that these
isolated beings subsist entirely upon the produce yielded by
their fields and farm-yards, a small portion of which they them-

10

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

selves consume, and by disposing of the rest, furnish themselves
with such requisites and luxuries as are not obtainable in the
island itself. They appeared to me to be very merry over their
misfortunes, and from being of late years often brought in
contact with the crews and captains of all the vessels trading
with Siam, evinced no fear or suspicion of strangers, and only
tried, as most orientals usually do, to get as much out of them
as they possibly could.

Our progress from Pulo Obi towards Siam was slow indeed ;
we seldom' made more than thirty miles during the twenty-four
hours. The days were hot and oppressive in the extreme ; the

ANCHORAGE OFF THE BAB OF SIAM.

nights poured with rain. One very wet night the captain was
on deck, and drenched to the skin, and in no very amiable
humour. Our stock of ducks, on the contrary, were in the
greatest imaginable state of enjoyment, and evinced their perfect
satisfaction at the state of the weather by repeated loud
quackings, sometimes so noisy that the captain was unable to
make himself understood. At length his patience was utterly

ARRIVAL AT SIAM. 11

exhausted, and lie ordered the cook to watch for the ducks that
made most noise, and slaughter them instanter. The cook
obeyed the injunctions given him to the letter, and next morning
not a single live duck was to be seen. The victims were salted,
and we were compelled to subsist on them during the remainder
of our long and tedious voyage.

Forty-two days had elapsed since our departure from Singapore,
when we at last sighted Siani ; and then all we could see of it
was a few Chinese fishing-stakes, a long low range of mangrove
bushes in the distance, and mountains.

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHAPTEE II.

Paknam. Arrival of ship reported, and permission requested to enter and proceed
up the river. Consequences of not complying with this rule. Proceed up the
river Menam. Description of Paknam. Its fortress. Siamese King's permis-
sion to all the world to dine. Paknam villagers. Incident with the natives.
Punishment of priests, &c., for an attack on the English. Paknam houses. The
Government-house. Siamese ladies. Description of the Menam. Scenery.
Birds. Native canals. Paklat Boon. Dockyards. First sight of Bangkok.
American missionaries. Appearance of Bangkok in the morning. Junks.
Description of houses. Accident to one. Population of Bangkok. Fall into
the river. Mr. Hunter. Order from Prince Chou Faa to cast a cannon. Tombs
Prisons. Markets. Annoyance from Crows. Siamese aversion to walking.
Mode of passing the day among the residents of Siam. Account of the French
Missions.

HOETLY after we had anchored
off the bar of Siam, the Captain
went on shore to report to the
authorities at Paknam, a little
town situated at the mouth of
the river "Menam," (which latter
word signifies in Siamese the
" Mother of Waters,") the arrival
of his ship, and to obtain from
the Siamese Government per-
mission for the vessel to enter
and proceed up the river as far
as Bangkok, the modern capital
of Siam. This is a form strictly to be adhered to ; for the penalty
inflicted upon such as neglect it, and enter the river without
this authority, is the seizure of the vessel, the confiscation

VOYAGE UP THE MENAM. 13

of the cargo, the imprisonment of the captain, (a very terrible
penalty in such a country, and in such prisons as it pos-
sesses,) and the immediate execution of the Siamese pilot
for an infringement of the laws of the " Brother of the Moon,
and worshipper of the two White Elephants." Since, however,
strange vessels never would venture to cross the bar without
a pilot, and those acquainted with the trade know the
necessary forms to be gone through, the threat is seldom, if
ever, put into execution, excepting, perhaps, in occasional
instances of small Chinese junks, which being ignorant of the
law, and drawing only a few feet water, have passed in and
been seized.

After a day's delay, the captain returned with the requisite
permit, and accompanied by a pilot ; and soon after we weighed
anchor, and proceeded towards the mouth of the river. But,
however good a helmsman our pilot may have been, he grievously
lacked the very necessa.ry knowledge of the ebb and flow ol
the tides ; and after thumping the ship several times violently
on the bar, there we stuck, with no prospect or hope of getting
out of this position for at least twenty hours. The tide ebbed fast,
and as it ebbed, the vessel lay heavily over on her broadside, till
her position became so very unpleasant that we could neither
stand nor walk, and eventually were compelled to seek refuge on
the outside of the outer bulwarks. The position of the vessel
caused havoc amongst the bottles and crockery-ware in the cabin,
and the pilot came in for a pretty round tirade of abuse from all
hands on board.

There is a remarkable phenomenon to be observed on this bar,
which is, that though its distance is fully a mile from the
Menam, yet, when the tide flows out again from the river, the
water alongside the vessel is perfectly sweet and drinkable.

The tide had completely ebbed off the bank before it com-
menced to rise slowly again ; and in this interval we slid down
by means of rope ladders, and had no small amusement in
picking up the little fish and prawns which had been left, much

14 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

I should think to their surprise, high and dry, floundering about
in an element very foreign to their nature. As the tide returned,
so we drew nearer to the vessel ; but it came up faster than
many of us imagined, and notwithstanding our hurry and haste
to scramble up the side of the vessel again, not a few of us got
wet feet in the attempt.

It was not till 10 p.m., that I could hope for any ease or com-
fort in my bed, owing to the curious position that the vessel was
in, and when she did right again, I was very glad to feel myself
standing in an upright position. At break of day, next morning,
there was sufficient water for us to proceed, and being favoured
by a gentle sea-breeze, it was not long before we entered the
magnificent river, and came to an anchor off the small town of
Paknam.

Paknam is one of the most extraordinarily picturesque spots
upon the face of the earth. It is like a miniature view of an
immense citadel, or a panoramic exhibition of the Boga Tigris.

FORTRESS AT PAKNAM.

On a diminutive little island in the exact centre ol the river
rises a diminutive little white circular fortress, with a very
small, but beautifully constructed, Pagoda towering up to a

DEFENCES OF SIAM. 15

pigmy height in the middle thereof. The absurd notion of
erecting such a thing with the design of instilling terror into
their enemies could never have entered the heads of any other
nation than the Siamese, or their celestial brethren. A broad-
side of ship's biscuits would almost annihilate it. Yet this
jim-crack little toy is firmly believed by the king and nation to
spread terror far and wide> and to be the dread of the English
Government, and the only reason why they have never attempted
to attack this, as they have all the neighbouring countries.
Of course, there is a legend attached to this fort', some story
about its having been founded by a Siamese deity, who still keeps
watch over the welfare of its worshippers. On either bank of
the river there is a long range of buttress, badly constructed
and worse mounted ; indeed, many of the guns were so corroded
with rust, that it would have been a dangerous experiment to
attempt to fire them off. From these fortresses, an ordinary
sized ship's cable is stretched across in times of alarm and
danger ; and thus protected, the Siamese presume their country
to be impregnable. Hence, every day, at about 1 p. m., the
notes of a discordant horn resound through every town and
village in the Siamese territories, meant to proclaim to the
world at large, "that his Majesty, the King of Siam, had had his
dinner, and was graciously pleased to grant permission to all
other potentates on the face of the earth to follow his judicious
example." A Siamese would no more believe that any other
crowned head dared transgress this law with impunity, than he '
would in the existence of an electric telegraph ; and as for
breaking through it themselves, instantaneous death would be
the result.

We landed at Paknam, to take a look at the village and its
inhabitants. The ground was swampy in the extreme, and
elevated pathways constructed of lime and mortar were an indis-
pensable requisite. These pathways were not over and above
broad, and the Siamese not very polite, so that, in passing to and
fro, they jostled us and each other in the rudest manner, and

16 EESIDENCE IN SIAM. .

occasionally some unhappy individual was edged off the road,
and disappeared amidst the mud and marshes of the quagmire.
Such an incident occurring to any of our party would have
occasioned very serious inconvenience, as we were all dressed in
white, with shoes and stockings d la Franka. Not so the
Siamese, (whose simplicity of costume will be commented upon
in due order,) who, running to the- river, would plunge right
in, swim some twenty yards and back, and with dripping wet
garments pursue their avocations with all the sang froid
imaginable. In the mud, and all around, were numbers of pigs
in the full enjoyment of their dirty element ; and little cleaner
than themselves were the groups of village children that chased
them from spot to spot with fiendish delight. Little flotillas
of ducks were swimming in puddles and ditches, and there was
apparently no want of any kind of poultry. The villagers
themselves were about as cut-throat a set as ever I set eyes on,
both men and women, and as we passed, they said something or
other in Siamese, which might have been a welcome, or a male-
diction, for all I cared or knew. Judging from their aspects, I
am inclined to think they were cursing us, the more especially
as they owed the English a grudge for the sound example that
had been made of them, not many years before my visit, for mal-
treating two British subjects that were amusing themselves by
shooting wild pigeons in the vicinity of their temple, or watt.
The story was this. Mr. Hunter, a gentleman for many years
resident in Siam, and who had the esteem and regard of all the
better portion of the inhabitants at Bangkok, his Majesty the
King included, was very fond of fishing and shooting, the two
only amusements afforded to such as become voluntary exiles, and
take up their abode in these little civilised parts. For the better
accommodation of himself and his friends, Mr. Hunter had
purchased a beautiful little cutter of about 25 tons burthen,
in which many and many a time I afterwards accompanied him
on exploring trips outside the bar, and amongst the numberless
little islands that line the sea coast. In the instance alluded to,

MR. HUNTER'S ADVENTURE. 17

he had made up a pleasure trip, which was to extend, I believe,
as far as " Chantiboon" and back. Arriving at Paknam about
mid-day, and the tide and wind not favouring, Mr. Hunter deter-
mined to land there, and see what sport he and his companion
(the master of an English vessel) could get by shooting wild-
pigeons, which were very plentiful about the neighbourhood of
the watt, where, on the pinnacles of its lofty pagodas, they were
wont to build their nests and rear their young. Great success
attended the sportsmen, when (just as they were about to
return to the cutter) some twenty infuriated priests set upon
the pair, armed with murderous clubs, and beat and otherwise
maltreated them most unmercifully : the whole populace rose
upon these two defenceless Britons, who, nevertheless, fighting
back to back, managed to keep numbers of the assailants off,
till, attracted by the noise and riot on shore, the crew of a
Portuguese brig, then lying at the mouth of the Menam came
to their timely rescue, and got them on board the cutter more
dead than alive. Mr. Hunter immediately got under weigh, and
wind and tide favouring, proceeded back to Bangkok, where he
and his companion immediately on their arrival presented them-
selves at the palace, and demanded and obtained an immediate
interview. The king was highly exasperated at the conduct of
the people at Paknam, had the governor and chiefs bastinadoed
most cruelly, and caused the whole bevy of priests to be expelled
from the watt, and exiled as felons into the interior of the
country, where their occupation to this day, if they are still
alive, is to cut grass for the white elephants that are kept in
such grand state, and so much reverenced, by the inhabitants of
Bangkok and all Siam.

The houses at Paknam were miserably dirty, constructed of
mud and wood, and, as is the case in the Malayan peninsula
the upper story only tenantable, the lower one being the abode
of pigs, fowls, ducks, dogs, cats, and, I imagine, not a few snakes.
The Government House had been built originally of stone ; some
of the walls were still of this material, but the rest was rudely

18 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

patched up with firewood and mud. It was the only house at
Paknam into which you entered before mounting up stairs, and
had rooms both in the upper and lower story. The reason of this
was, that the Governor being the head man, and greater than
the rest of the villagers, it was no shame for others to pass under
his abode ; for a strong prejudice exists in Siam against passing
under any man's abode that is not immensely your superior, a
prejudice which I shall hereafter endeavour to account for, and
from this cause all the other houses had ladders placed outside.
As in Sumatra, the people preferred elevated positions, for two
very sensible reasons the first was, to protect them from the
stings of venomous reptiles, with which the whole country
abounds ; the second, that the cool sea breezes might have free
access to their couches, and help to drive away the swarms of
musquitoes that literally drive one to the verge of insanity
by their sharp malignant stings. The interior of Government
House was anything but prepossessing ; a wretchedly planked
room, with an old dingy carpet, and a few smoke-dried cushions
to recline against. As for the Governor himself, he was a burly
overfed Siamese, with a husky voice, and an inquisitive eye. His
questions were mainly of a selfish nature. He asked me, through
the interpreter, if I had ever seen such fortresses, or such a town
as the one he had the honour to command ? I replied, with all
truth and sincerity, that I never had. " Ah, then," said the
Governor, " wait till you get to the capital, and then you will
see (and here he paused, and covered his eyes with his hands
as though the mere reflection were sufficient to blind him with
its dazzling glory) you will see something that will astonish you
far more than even the Emperor of China's rich capital would."
The next thing he wanted to know was, whether I was a doctor
or not, and on my replying in the negative, he evinced much
delight, declaring all doctors to be ignorant men, who made
people swallow abominable filth, whilst they themselves lived on
the fat of the land. His own had restricted him the use of ardent
spirits, and he said the result was, that he was very ill and

INTERVIEW WITH THE GOVERNOR. 19

dying. He suffered from a constitutional stomach-ache, effectu-
ally to cure which he begged very hard for two bottles of English
brandy, offering to give us a small detachment of chickens and
ducks in return. During our interview, the ladies of his house-
hold were amusing themselves by peeping through eyelet-holes,
made expressly in a large sail that curtained off the audience hall
from their department. They made no secret of their vicinity,
for they laughed and talked as loudly as though they were in
the same room, and I make little doubt their comments would
have been rather disagreeable, had we been able to appreciate
their pith and aptitude. As the case stood, however, we were
perfectly innocent on this score, and in this instance at least,
ignorance was bliss indeed. Taking leave of his Excellency, we
returned on board, heartily glad to be enabled to exchange the
filth and abomination of that wretched little town for the
comfortable clean decks of our own little floating world, small
and confined though its limits necessarily were. After tea and a
promenade on deck, the tide began to favour us, and the moon
rose in all the majesty of her pale glory, to be a beacon light to
guide us through the intricate navigation of the river ; the wind
was a mere zephyr, but it served to puff and swell out the tiny
loftier sails, with sufficient force to urge our little bark on her
onward way ; sometimes it was right aft, and sometimes right
ahead, now on the lee bow, now on the starboard, according as
the windings of the river caused the vessel to sport with its
invisible playmate.

So deep is the Menam and so void of shoals and banks, that, as we
worked tack and tack up certain portions of the river, the bowsprit
of the vessel got fairly entangled amongst the mangrove bushes, and
tore away twigs and even boughs in disentangling herself again ;
and as these bushes waved gently to and fro as the night breeze
swept over them, nothing could be more magnificent than the
aspect they presented, thickly bestudded as they were with
myriads of glittering fire-flies that ever and anon sparkled forth
from the black obscure shade of the bushes, throwing upon the

c2

20 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

water and all around one bright transcendant glow of radiant
light. This was the sentimental part of the scenery, for on the
other hand we were beset by perfect clouds of mosquitoes, whose
perpetual dinning drowsy hum was only to be rivalled by the
acute sharpness of their venomous stings. I sought refuge under
the mosquito gauze, only to find that scores of these vile insects
had already found their way there ; and being locked in with
such an enemy was even worse than facing them in an open
field ; but as the night advanced these wretches betook them-
selves to the shore, and gave us a few hours of peace and tran-
quillity. Whilst endeavouring to fall asleep, I was surprised to
hear what I supposed to be the beating of a native drum or
" Tom Tom" apparently close alongside the vessel ; and yet, to
my certain knowledge from ocular demonstration, no human
habitation existed within many miles of where we were then
sailing ; the ground being on either side of the river, as far as
the eye could reach, a swamp unfit even for the cultivation of
rice, and which was continually being subjected to inundations
of the river. This noise arose, as I afterwards learned, from a
species of fish that followed in the wake of the vessel, and
which from this circumstance (I mean the noise they make) are
termed by the Siamese the Drum Fish. I saw some specimens
of them afterwards in Bangkok : they are very ugly, with a
species of bladder under the throat, (from which the curious
sound is emitted,) and wholly unfit for food. Towards morning
we approached the second town, constructed on the banks of the
Menam, after entering the river. This is called Paklat Belo or
Little Paklat, to distinguish it from Paklat Boon, a large and
more considerable town some twenty miles further up the river.
Paklat Belo is, strictly speaking, nothing more than a village ;
in fact, not so large as many of the villages in the vicinity ;
but it is a place of some consideration, from the fact that the
neighbouring land on either side of the river is laid out in vast
paddy fields as far as the eye can reach, and the rice produced is
here shipped and carried to Bangkok and Yuthia for the con-

CANALS OX THE MENAM. 21

sumption of the inhabitants. Here the eye first observes signs
of cultivation, and here also commences that busy scene of life
which goes on thickening and increasing as you draw near to the
capital. Boats laden with every kind of marketable produce now
make their appearance. This is the utmost limit of the floating
vendor's boats ; they come down with a favouring tide, so that
no manual labour is required to urge the well-stocked canoes
from village to village along the shores of the river : hence it
arises that one seldom sees more than one individual in charge
of a canoe, and their only duty consists in skilfully steering the

PAKLAT LELO.

boat, which the stream rapidly carries whichever way it may
chance to set. These canoes are piled up in a manner that
would lead one uninitiated in the art of skulling to imagine their
safe guidance through the waters to be a moral impossibility ; yet
such is the facility which practice gives to these almost amphi-
bious people, that the canoes are generally entrusted to the care
of a child not above ten years of age, and that child a girl.
Accidents are very rare indeed, and this indeed is perfectly

22 RESIDENCE IN SJAM.

marvellous, considering the thousands of larger and paddled
canoes that are perpetually plying to and fro, and which, in some
sudden "bend of the river, hidden from each other by mangrove
bushes, come sharply round the corner, threatening instant
destruction to the smaller and more humble boat of the vendor
of fish, fruits, or vegetables. From Paklat Belo there is a
canal which is navigable at high water to canoes paddled by as
many as eight men ; and this canal leads direct into the very
heart of the city of Bangkok, cutting off a distance of nearly twenty-
five miles. Proceeding from Paklat Belo, we gradually came
upon a higher and more richly cultivated country : pretty little
hamlets and villages were scattered over the plain in the distance,
and in some parts the country was thickly studded with beautiful
fruit trees ; their dark foliage contrasting well with the lighter
and more brilliant green of the country around. One curve in
the river would bring us in sight of the tall and graceful sugar-
cane waving to and fro as the wind sighed enviously through its
foliage. No bee, however cunning, could hope to suck sweetness
from its coarsely covered canes no one but man possessed the
secret of the rich sweetness well concealed beneath its rough
unseemly bark and none but man knew how to squeeze the
juice ; and, in short, not to be too sentimental, play the deuce
with it by melting, boiling, skimming, and many other cunning
processes, and so produce the sugar-rum and sugar-candy. One
stout old Chinaman, who was ordering about some labourers,
seemed evidently to possess the secret : he did look so happy and
so fatly contented. A second curve in the river, and nothing
but betlenut plantations on either side ; a third, and innumerable
fruit gardens sprung up to view ; and so the scene went varying
from beautiful to most lovely, and from most lovely to charming,
as we spanned that river's waters, mile by mile. About mid-day
we reached Paklat Boon, and the tide being against us brought
up for that evening and went on shore to have a ramble.

Paklat Boon is very prettily situated. Close to the water's
edge are the neatly built cottages of the artificers and others

PAKLAT BOON. ^O

employed in the construction of canoes, and at the time of our
visit there was a state canoe being constructed for his Majesty,
of a length not less than from seventy to eighty feet, whilst its
greatest beam did not exceed twelve. The dockyards are kept
in excellent order, and the whole town is neat and cleanly rather
a marvellous fact in these parts, and one solely attributable to
the place being under the immediate supervision of Prenawi

1'AK.LAT BOON.

Consitt, a member of the royal family, and Lord High Admiral
of the Siamese navy. He is a perfect European in manners, and
speaks English fluently, and has adopted the manners and
customs and tastes of our country. The little houses in the
central part of the town were principally occupied by husband-
men and farmers. Each house was detached, and had a garden
containing trees yielding the most luscious fruits in the East,
and many rare and beautiful flowers. " Well," thought I, on

HESIDENCE IN SIAM.

returning on board after a long and agreeable stroll, " matters
are not so bad after all, and if they go on mending at this rate,
the prediction of the old Governor of Paknam is in a fair way
of being verified to a certain extent."

Weighing from hence we proceeded up the river towards
Bangkok. Truly the Menam is a splendid river, and well may
the natives call it the " Mother of Waters ! " The further we
progressed the more magnificent the river became, and in some
parts it was a perfect lake, without a rock, or bank, an eddy, or
any hidden harm to cause the mariner one moment's anxiety or
alarm. The ship worked tack and tack and 'ran her bowsprit into
the mangrove bushes on either side, to the no small alarm and
dismay of troops of monkeys that were skylarking amongst the
trees on the banks of the river. The further we went the more
interesting the scene became ; the water was literally dotted with
vessels and boats of all descriptions and sizes, ships, barques,
brigs, schooners, cutters, junks, proahs, and canoes of every
description and size. We were continually being hailed by the
little vendors of divers goods, as they skulled their canoes skil-
fully under the stern of our vessel. Some sold fish, others fruits,
others again vegetables, and there were a whole fleet of vendors
of butcher's meat and of bread, screaming, at the utmost pitch of
their little voices, laudatory encomiums of their different meats,
each vowing her own (for the canoes are navigated by girls) was
infinitely better to that sold by the rest of the lot. There was
one old Chinaman who had hit upon a stratagem which seemed
to promise fairly to recompense him for his trouble. He had
erected in the centre of his canoe a cooking apparatus, and he
ladled out into cups of very goodly dimensions a by no means
contemptible-looking soup, commonly known in China as " Chou-
chou," which consists of a mixture of every kind of meat and
vegetables that the earth produces, boiled down into a kind of
jelly and seasoned with pepper and salt ; he had more custom
than all the rest put together. Philosophical-looking old fisher-
men who had spent the night in fishing, and had caught nothing,

FIRST VIEW OF BANGKOK. 25

seemed by their faces to declare that they had determined in
their own minds not to go to the expense of such a luxury that
day ; but it was a frail resolution, and made only to be broken,
for no sooner did the much-loved fragrance reach their expanded
nostrils, than they bid adieu to all stoicism, and rowed as fast
as they could after the vendor of " chou-chou."

Evening was just closing in as we passed the dockyards of
Bangkok, which are situated three miles below the city itself.
Here those splendid ships which compose the King of Siam's
navy, and which would do credit to any nation, were con-
structed, under the immediate supervision of an English ship-
wright ; and here vessels of any other nation, that may have
met with damage at sea, are thoroughly, and at a very cheap
outlay, repaired. There are also one or two dry docks ; and on
the whole, the establishment is an admirable one, and well
suited to render services to any vessels meeting with misfor-
tunes in the China seas. In the hands of our Government they
would become invaluable, and yield a revenue far surpassing
that yielded by similar establishments in other countries : but
of this anon. After rounding the dockyards, we passed the
Roman Catholic Mission establishment, a very unpresuming-
looking place indeed, with a little chapel where the well-known
cross, that brings peace and comfort to the Christian's soul, rose
up unpretendingly amidst the surrounding magnificent symbols
of Paganism and idolatry. Yet another tack, and one more
turning in the river, and lo ! the glories of the floating city
burst upon our admiring gaze, like some resplendent ray of sun-
light through an envious cloud. It was night dark night ; neither
moon nor stars were in the heavens. But what cared Bangkok,
with its million globes that lighted the river's broad surface
from side to side, for night or darkness ! It was like that fairy-
land where houris dwell, whose eyes shed lustre lustre such as
made the stars decline to keep their wary watch, and Madame
Moon to hide her face behind a silvery cloud. As far as the
eye could reach, on either side of the river, there was one

26 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

endless succession of lights lights variegated, and of every
imaginable colour and shape, and such only as Chinese inge-
nuity could ever invent ; every little floating house had two or
more of these lights ; the yards and masts of the vessels and
junks (and these were by no means few) were decorated in a
like manner ; the lofty pagodas or minarets of the watts were
one blaze of light. It was the most striking, the most beautiful
panorama I had ever witnessed : nor, had we been a day later,
should I have enjoyed the spectacle, for the night of our arrival
chanced to be that of one of the greatest feast-days in China
the feast of lanterns. The tide was now setting against us ;
and although the distance to our proper anchorage off the
British factory was trivial and easy of accomplishment, the
captain was afraid of getting entangled with some of the many
craft lying in the river, and so dropped anchor just opposite the
Portuguese Consulate, where also resided a board of American
missionaries a regular set of Jonathans who came off imme-
diately, and commenced guessing and calculating to an extent
that would " whip spiders into a bale of silk," and which com-
pletely destroyed the illusion of the magnificent view I had been
enjoying.

" I guess, Cap'en, you got some crackers aboard for my .wife ?
They came all the way from Carolina, and I'll thank you to give
'em up."

" Who the (he very nearly went the whole extent) are

you ? " exclaimed the blunt old skipper ; " and what are ye^
to think that I'm going to look after your crackers at this time
of night, and with the vessel swinging-to."

"I'll write to the Board, Capting," snuffled the enraged Yankee,
" and it will be quite a long day before you bring any more
crackers, or any other cargo, for us missionaries quite a long
day, I guess : " and repeatedly murmuring this to himself, he r
uninvited, took a seat, and allowed his wrath to calm down in
the contemplation of the good cheer spread on the cuddy-table.
Many of these gentlemen were celebrated for the like cool

AMERICAN MISSIONARIES. 27

proceedings. One man, Brother , a tall lank specimen of

humanity clad in seedy black, (so tall that he might have been
twin-brother, for aught I know to the contrary, to the celebrated
American who labours under this inconvenience to such an
extent as to be obliged to climb up a ladder every morning to
shave himself,) betook himself, wife, children, bags, baggage,
and all, on board of the W. S. Hamilton, an English vessel, on
the point of sailing for Singapore and Liverpool, without any
previous intimation of his intentions to the captain, or any soul
on board. The captain, who was entertaining a select party of
friends at a farewell champagne dinner, and who, with the rest,
had partaken freely of that enlivening beverage, was quite taken
aback, as he himself expressed it, at the sudden and unexpected
apparition, but cheerfully invited the new comers to be seated

at the festive board. Brother O stalked unceremoniously

past the table, without deigning to notice any one in the room,
until he had gained the door of the stern cabin, which having
surveyed with an approving glance, and casting a look in which
horror, contempt, and pity were admirably mingled, on the
devilish crew imbibing strong drinks, broke forth into the
following queries, with an unmistakeable tone of command.
Yankee : " Capting ! you are going to Singapore ! "
Captain (in amazement) : " I am, sir."
Yankee : " And you go right away after sundown ? "
Captain (coolly) : " Perhaps yes ; perhaps no."
Yankee (more coolly still) : " Well, I guess I'll take this cabin
for me and my partner and the precious children. We'll put
our boxes here and our beds there. We'll eat in our cabin

because we abhor winebibbers who have red eyes " a pause

" and, Capting ! when we get to Singapore I'll give you thirty
dollars ! " (very loud and emphatically.)

It is needless to say that, notwithstanding this overwhelming
offer, (which was just about one-fifth of the ordinary passage

money for a single individual,) Brother O was, much to his

surprise, quietly requested to proceed on shore ; and he went

28 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

over the ship's side foaming with indignation, and making use
of the invariable Yankee -missionary threat of writing to the
Board. One would have imagined that the Board was composed
of the most powerful and awful despots in the universe, judging by
the many direful threats held out of appealing thereto ; whereas
its amiable members consist principally of tender-hearted old
maiden ladies, whose names and places of residence may be seen
any day in the list of charitable contributors appended to the
annually published reports, with the nature of the contributions
set opposite to their names, which not unfrequently consist of
articles as little suited to the climate and people they are
destined for, as the flannel waistcoats were, which (as we read
in "Pickwick") so much excited the elder Mr. Weller's indig-
nation.

As morning broke, we, who had been anxiously waiting on
deck an hour before, gradually discovered the different marks
and headlands of the surrounding country. One or two solitary
glimmerings were left, sole remnants of the last night's grand
display of lanterns, and the intense silence that reigned around
sadly contrasted with the noisy mirth and music of the preceding
evening. The town looks as a supper-room does the morning
after a ball ; there was nothing left of the feast save the odds
and ends ; jellies had melted to nauseous-looking water, and
gaily-ornamented cakes crumbled into indescribable pieces of
nastiness. So it was with Bangkok, as the first light of morning
enabled us to obtain an obscure glimpse of the long range
of floating houses that lined the river on either side. By night
they looked gaudy enough and sufficiently brilliant in our
uninitiated imagination to have risen up into stately palaces,
glittering with the golden light of the sun's early ray ; in the
morning they appeared a nondescript confusion of cabins,
pagodas, junks, canoes, vessels, fishing-boats, rafters, and rafts,
and heavy-looking piles of bamboo and timber. As the sun
cleared the atmosphere, however, things assumed a pleasanter
aspect ; and by the time that we were fairly under weigh, and

BANGKOK. 29

working towards the anchorage, the whole city of Bangkok, con-
sisting of a long double, and in some parts treble, row of neatly
and tastefully-painted wooden cabins, floating on thick bamboo
rafts, and linked to each other in parcels of six or seven houses
by chains, (which chains were fastened to huge poles driven into
the bed of the river,) rose like a magic picture to our admiring
gaze. Junks of 1400 tons were lying close alongside these floating
cabins so close, that they could converse with each other with
the greatest facility ; and one vessel a Portuguese that was
working tack and tack with us up the river approached so close
to the houses, that, in going about, she came foul with, and carried
away with her, half-a-dozen of these floating domiciles. The
tide was running down rapidly, and so soon as the brig
disentangled herself, away went these houses at a steamer's
pace, amidst the vociferous hootings and shoutings of their
tenants ; and before many minutes had elapsed, they had
disappeared round a corner of the river, and were stranded on
the opposite shore ; but they sustained no great injury, for, with
the simple difference that their dislodgement was involuntary,
this was after all nothing but the method adopted by the natives
themselves when desirous of changing the position of their
shops. If the air of the " Fleet-street " of Siam does not agree
with Mrs. Yow-chow-fow and her children, or they wish to
obtain a more aristocratic footing by being domiciled higher up
and nearer to the King's palace, then all they have to do is
to wait till the tide serves, and loosing from their moorings,
float gently up towards the spot they wish to occupy. On such
occasions the men are armed with long bamboo poles, to keep
their houses from coming in contact with any of the many
vessels that are at anchor in the river ; and every soul on board
every ship and every one within hail halloo and scream to each
other in a most appalling manner, leading a stranger to imagine
that the interests of the state must be at stake, and dependent
entirely on the safe navigation of that one small floating house.
Bangkok, the modern capital of Siam, and the seat of the

30

EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Siamese Government, was computed, at the period of my
residence there, to consist of seventy thousand floating houses or
shops ; and each shop, taking one with another, to contain five
individuals, including men, women, and children ; making the
population amount to 350,000 souls of which number 70,000

THE FLOATING CITY BANGKOK.

are Chinese, 20,000 Burmese, 20,000 Arabs and Indians ; the
remainder, or about 240,000, being Siamese. This was the best
census we could take, and I believe it to be nearly accurate. The
situation is exceedingly picturesque. I was told that when the
Siamese relinquished the ancient capital of Yuthia, and first
established the throne at Bangkok, the houses were built upon
the banks of the river itself; but the frequent recurrence of the
cholera induced one of the kings to insist upon the inhabitants
living upon the water, on the supposition that their dwellings

HOUSES AT BANGKOK. 31

would be more cleanly, and consequently the inmates less sub-
jected to the baneful effects of that scourge of the East. This
is a remarkable fact, that an uneducated, nay uncivilised bar-
barian, should have entertained such notions as to the conducive-
ness of cleanliness to health and vigour ; but alas ! so slothful are
the people so frightfully indifferent to their own interests and
health that, although with very slight exertion their cabins or
floating houses might be scrubbed and scoured out every morning,
they are seldom even so much as swept. There is another and a
great disadvantage to which this system has exposed the
inhabitants ; it is this cattle, dogs, cats, nay even sometimes
human bodies, that have been cast into or been drowned in the
river higher up on the Yuthia side, are perpetually being swept
down by the current, and getting entangled underneath the
houses amidst the bamboo or poles that moor them ; the inmates
as well as neighbours are assailed with pestilential odours, which
they have no possible means of ridding themselves of ; and they
have no alternative but to abide patiently till time and tide
carry away this nuisance, being subjected in the interval to
a local miasma quite sufficient to breed typhus in a malignant
form. Another inconvenience is, that these houses, being so
little elevated above the water's edge, are necessarily damp and
humid, and consequently rheumatic fevers are extremely pre-
valent during the monsoons. Mr. Hunter's floating house was
double the size of any of the others, very neatly painted, and
well-furnished, with a nice little verandah in front. The first
night of my arrival I was dining there with all the English
and Portuguese then assembled at Bangkok ; we dined late, by
candlelight, and after dinner, walking up and down the verandah
chatting about many little affairs, and the latest news, &c., I got
so absorbed in the theme of conversation as literally to forget
that I was still upon the water ; and taking one step too much,
found myself all of a sudden up to my neck in water, with
the tide running so strong, that I lost hold of one of the wooden
pillars ^of the verandah ; and though I am by no means a bad

32 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

swimmer, I should inevitably have been drowned that night by
being drawn right under the houses, if assistance had not come.

Mr. Hunter, the identical gentleman that brought home the
Siamese twins, had, after a great deal of difficulty and persuasion,
induced the Siamese Government to permit the Europeans resid-
ing at Bangkok to build houses on terra firma. The Portuguese
consul, Signer Marsinello de Rosa, the French bishop and mis-
sionaries, the Americans and Mr. Hunter, had all gladly availed
themselves of this permission. Mr. Hunter's was a very fine
large prominent house, opposite to which the British ensign
proudly floated on feast days and high days, and here every
stranger found a home, for a very prince of hospitality was Mr.
Hunter, as was also his young partner, Mr. Hayes. When I first
arrived at Bangkok the building was not completed ; it was, how-
ever, speedily finished, and we entered into possession. Soon
afterwards I got my commission in the Siamese service as a naval
and military officer at the same time ; a curious amalgamation of
occupations, and one which was sometimes rather perplexing to
myself, but the Siamese suppose that Englishmen know every-
thing, and are au fait at every calling. The day after I joined
the Caledonia, a forty-four gun ship belonging to the King, in my
capacity as first lieutenant, and whilst giving the necessary
instruction to Messrs. Eglan and Rogers, my two juniors, as to
getting up and setting the rigging, and making other necessary
preparations for sea, one of the state barges came alongside with
a request from the Prince Chou-Faa, the heir apparent to the
throne, that I would attend instantly at his palace. On arriving
at the palace, I found to my utter amazement that I had been
sent for to cast a cannon for the Prince ! ! ! It was long before
I could persuade his highness that I was utterly incapable of
undertaking such an office, and yet the Prince was by no means
a man deficient in common sense and education, as my reader
will perceive further on in the work. One day I was busy on
board ; another I was with the cavalry four or five miles in the
interior ; a third, occupied in drilling the Prince's own private

HOUSES OF EUROPEANS.

33

body guard ; a fourth, doing a little pioneering work ; and so we
rang the changes on the army and navy each week-day.

Before Mr. Hunter gained permission for Europeans to build
on the banks of the Menam, this privilege was entirely confined
to the members of the royal family, and for the building of watts,
or places of worship. The pagodas that tower up from these
watts are of very magnificent workmanship, being a mosaic of
the finest porcelain, inlaid with ivory, gold and silver, and the
effect when the sun is shining upon them is perfectly dazzling.
After the watts, what strikes the stranger's attention are three
very lofty pillars, peculiarly and entirely inlaid with variegated
stones, some of which I was given to understand were of

MB ni'NTKHS HOUSE

immense value. These are the tombs of the three greatest kings
of Siam ; men who had done mighty deeds of valour at the
period when the Burmese and the Siamese were at war. The

,'U EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

king's palace itself towers high up in the air, and next in order
comes the palace and fortress of the Prince Chou-Faa.

Next door to Mr. Hunter were the domiciles of some seven or
eight American missionaries and their families, and next door to
them the Roman Catholic chapel, a small but neat building, in
which mass was regularly performed by one or more of the
missionaries. Three miles, however, down the river, and on the
opposite bank, were the Portuguese Consulate, another set of
American missionaries, the mission burial-ground, and the habi-
tations of the French bishop and his clergy. The missionaries
on our side were at warfare with those on the opposite bank
regarding certain points of Church doctrine, but as they were all
supported by one society they were compelled to have a board
meeting once a month, to draw up reports and send in their
drafts for monthly pay ; here violent controversies would ensue,
which generally ended in a flood of tears and a hugging match
all round.

The public prisons are like so many bird-cages suspended over
the water ; here debtors, like so many sparrows, keep hopping
from one side to the other, as the shade shifts, and they are
dependent upon the charity of passers-by for what they get to
eat and drink. Women of notoriously ill fame are also similarly
confined, with this difference, that their cages are on the rafts
next to the banks of the river, so as to be hidden from the public
gaze. The immoralities practised here, with the consent and to
the advantage of Government, who derive a revenue therefrom,
are too frightful to be attended to.

Every house in the front tier is a bazaar, and in these bazaars
are exposed for sale every imaginable article, the conjoint
produce of India, China, the Straits, and even Liverpool. The
men do not hesitate to expose, amongst other vendible articles,
their own daughters, who may be considered to rank as a
species of bale goods, and are often sold at less value than a piece
of long cloth, or a gaily-coloured chintz, the only difference in
the bargain being that should the purchaser quit the capital he

MODE OF LIFE IN BANGKOK. 85

must restore the girl, together with another sum of money
equivalent to the original cost price, and so much a head for
every child she may bring back with her on her return to the
bosom of her affectionate family. This clause is enforced simply
because the laws of the country demand it, for, of course, no
affection can exist between the parent and child. Astounding
as this must appear to the ears of civilised man, it is nevertheless
an incontrovertible fact, and one which many others who have
visited Bangkok can vouch for. After all, it is only giving
publicity to that which, under a thin veil of secresy, is but?
alas, too frequently practised all over our Eastern possessions,
and even in Turkey and Syria.

Boats, or rather canoes, are an indispensable appendage to the
houses in Bangkok. Every little cabin has its separate canoe, in
which the natives paddle to market and back again ; but at all hours
of the night, as well as during the day, the river is swarming with
floating bazaars, and each vendor has his separate cry, as distinct
from one another as the cry of " Mackarel ! " is from " Dust oh ! '*
But to make the reader more at home with the subject I am
endeavouring to picture to his mind's eye, I shall describe one
day and night out of the three hundred and sixty-five that
constitute the year ; and as monotony is the prevailing feature in
such an outlandish place as Bangkok, what occurs one day
is repeated without much variation on every other.

About half an hour before daybreak, the new comer is awoke
by the most interminable cawing of innumerable flights of
crows, passing in every direction overhead to fields and gardens,
where doubtless they had at their last evening's reunion agreed
to meet, for the plausible purpose of getting an early breakfast,
and astonishing grubs and insects in their nocturnal carousals,
before the sparrows and the larks should get the start. This
cawing continues till daylight has fairly set in, and then a host of
sparrows create such a rioting as renders sleep or repose
perfectly out of the question. The busy little grey squirrel
commences its sharp and piercing series of cries, and the vendors

n 2

36 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

of fresh-culled flowers, fruits, and vegetables, are busily engaged
in their various occupations. You rise up from your bed little
refreshed by the troubled slumber of the night, and the quiet
rippling of the waters invites you to plunge your fevered form
into their cool and refreshing depths. Half an hour's swim
makes ample amends for the loss of sleep, and this, aided by the
cool morning breeze, braces you up to combat against the heats
of the coming day. About sunrise you are astonished to see so
many canoes, filled with unearthly-looking beings, clad in bright
yellow garments, like so many dire emblems of the plague. These
are the priests belonging to the different watts or churches that
extend along the banks of the river on either side, and they come
round at this early hour to gather their provisions for the day,
for they live upon the charity of the people, and the people are
charitable, either from good will and pure purposes, or from
necessity, for every man in Siam must, malgre lui, be charitable,
as far as supporting the priesthood is concerned.

Betlenut vendors dispose of their goods as fast as they can
supply customers, for this said betlenut is as indispensable to a
Siamese household as the rice they eat and the water they drink.
Then comes the Chinaman, with his ready-cooked pork ; and the
fishmonger, with his fried and well-stewed fish ; and the baker's
girl, with bread and hoppers, (hoppers are a delicious species of
cake, made of rice flour and cocoa-nut milk ;) and then an
IL terminable string of raw commodities, sea and river fish, goats'
meat and poultry, fruits, vegetables, and other minor articles of
consumption ; and amidst this commotion amongst the floating
vendors, the city wakes to the business of the day, and man goes
forth to his labour and toil. We breakfasted at Mr. Hunter's
about ten o'clock every morning, and after that meal, when
domiciled in his new house on shore, we were wont to walk back-
wards and forwards in the splendid balcony he had erected, as
much for the sake of exercise, as to enjoy an uninterrupted half
hour's chat ; and so punctual were we in the observance of this
constitutional strut, that the Siamese on the opposite banks, who

MODE OF LIFE IN BANGKOK. 37

had little to do and less to think of, imagined that this exercise
was some portion of a religious duty, which we were compelled
to accomplish, nolens volens, in accordance with the rules of the
penance imposed upon us; and one stout old Chinaman, a
merchant of no mean repute, came to condole with Mr, Hunter,
expressing sincere sympathy for his suffering, in being compelled
to walk about so much during the then existing great heats,
comforting him with the consolatory thoughts of the monsoons
being nigh at hand, when the weather would be cooler, and the
fatiguing exercise imposed less detrimental to comfort. An
indolent people themselves, and wholly occupied in sedentary
lollings, (for whether at home in their floating cabins, or abroad
in their canoes, they are always, tailor like, seated cross-legged,)
such a thing as voluntary exercise, shooting, riding, or walking,
was a problem wholly beyond their capabilities of solution, and,
in their estimation, that man must be a lunatic who would walk
half a mile, when he might be comfortably paddled the same
distance, luxuriantly seated in a canoe. After breakfast, Mr.
Hunter betook himself to his counting-house, and we idlers
paddled up and down the river. Some days we went to see the
Portuguese consul, and his neighbours the American mission-
aries. At other times we called upon the French bishop, and the
Catholic missionaries, all very excellent people, and well educated
and talented. An inspection of the dockyards, a visit to the
various watts, a chat with the Prince Chou-Faa, a shooting or
fishing expedition, made time fly quickly enough. As for the
Siamese themselves, they bought and sold, smoked, and drank
strong tea without either milk or sugar, paid a visit of business
to merchants and captains of junks, made balance-sheets and
received money due to them, and paid what they owed, (this
latter, however, was a rare occurrence, for I have known poor
Mr. Hunter to be months and months before he could recover
one fuong of the money due to him,) and thus they passed the
earlier portion of the day, till the loud echoing trumpet, soon
after mid-day, proclaimed to the world at large that his Siamese

!>8 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Majesty, in condescension to the temporal wants of his people
had condescended to dine, or breakfast, or whatever his meal
might be termed, and then his hungry subjects set to work, and
feasted lustily also. After this meal, and until about two or
half-past two p.m., a perfect silence reigns around Bangkok. The
heat is at this time of the day so overpowering, that even the
noisy squirrel has given over cracking nuts, and seeks shelter
and repose in the coolest boughs of the lofty Durian tree. Men,
women, and children are hushed in the quiet sleep of their
siesta ; no birds are observed flying about ; no noisy crows are seen
hovering to and fro, and the only sound that breaks the perfect
stillness of that hour is the rippling of the stream as it ebbs or
flows along the parched banks of the river Menam. As for the
floating bazaars, they have all long since disappeared, and having
sold all that was necessary for the consumption of the city, they
are now many miles down the river towards Paklat Boon,
bartering for the remainder of their goods with the villagers that
dwell upon its banks.

Even we Europeans at this hour always felt weary and full of
lassitude, and in a place that lacked amusement so grievously,
it is not surprising that we also indulged in the renovating
oriental siesta ; for there never was a breath of air out of the
heavens at this period of the clay to cool our fevered blood, or
take off in a measure the scorching heat of the sun's rays.
Between half-past two and three p.m., that most welcome of all
visitors in India, commonly termed "the doctor" made its ap-
pearance. The uninitiated will start to hear me call a doctor's
visit welcome ; but this term in India is applied to the sea breeze,
which, punctual almost to a minute, blows coolly over the parched
land, reviving animal and vegetable creation beneath the soft
touch of its breath, and certainly so universal a benefactor does
not exist upon earth. Soon after the sea breeze sets in at
Bangkok, the drowsy populace awake once more to a sense of
business, and the whole river is very soon one scene of lively
.animation : more boats than ever are. now to be seen, and more

CATHOLIC MISSION. 39

people throng the floating houses. About this period of the day
there is generally a great stir amongst the shipping vessels ar-
riving and departing, loading and discharging. By and by, the
sun sets in the west, the short dull twilight is fast giving way to
the more sombre tinges of night. The cawing of crows once
more resounds through the air as they fly homeward for the night
to roost ; small lamps are twinkling in the floating houses, and
on board the vessels ; the boats of the river grow darkish, objects
become indistinct, an old gong strikes the half hour after six,
and the whole place is wrapt in impenetrable night.

For an hour or two after this, or, at the latest, till ten p.m., the
long row of lights in the floating-houses give symptoms of wake-
fulness and of supper being under weigh. An occasional snatch
of a Chinese carol would reach us as we sat at the hospitable
board of our worthy host ; by degrees even this sound would
cease, and, save the low mournful cry of some hapless young
vendor of fish or fruits, who dared not seek her home before dis-
posing of a stipulated quantity, for fear of chastisement from her
ruthless master, nothing disturbed the solemn stillness of night.
One hour before midnight, as indicated by the old clock at
Mr. Hunter's house, was the signal for us to disperse for the
night, and long before that time arrived, the whole city was
hushed in deep repose.

Such, with very slight variation, is the method in which all
residents at Siam pass the twenty-four hours of the three hundred
and sixty-five days of the year.

The Catholic Missionary Society at Bangkok, when I was
there, consisted of one bishop and about ten French priests,
besides one or two proselyte Chinese priests. Of the former, I
hardly can name one that was not endowed with every talent
that strict collegiate education could afford, and the latter were
useful, because, besides being sincere Christians, they possessed
the power of expounding the Scriptures to their Chinese brethren
in a language natural to themselves from their birth upwards.
Nor was this all : they were well skilled in medicine, and even a

40 TtESIDENCE IN SIAM.

few in surgery ; and if anything can win over a savage idolater
to lend ear to the marvellous facts of faith, it is surely when he
meets a man who has to them, apparently miraculously, relieved
them from the greatest sufferings, and whose doctrine in one
point of view, and that one by the Siamese considered an all-
important one, entirely coincides with their own faith and
religion. I allude to the celibacy of the priesthood. An ignorant
demi-civilised being goes into the temple where he worships, and
he sees idols, and hears fabulous tales rehearsed by the priest-
craft of his idolatrous creed ; he sees certain forms and prostra-
tions practised the burning of incense, and bowing before
well-lit shrines ; and he knows that the most heinous sin com-
mittable by a Bhuddist priest is the violation of his oath of
celibacy. Of the incantations and prayers used he knows little,
nor does he care to know more. Keligion is to him a ceremony
to be gone through ; and, as for the ultimate results of life and
death, unless very fanatically disposed to defend his own faith,
his chief object in life is to enjoy himself as much as he can here,
and he believes that, at the worst after death, he may be meta-
morphosed into a snail or a lizard, or some such agreeable tenant
of earth or sea.

This identical savage is, from sheer curiosity, induced to enter
a Catholic church, when, to his surprise and delight, he observes,
not only forms and ceremonies very much approaching to those
used in his own temple, but also images and pictures, only that
these latter are vastly more elegant and attractive than the
uncouth modellings and daubs that he has heretofore seen. On
inquiry, he is gratified to learn that the priests of this faith, like
those of his own, are restricted from marrying, and his delight
knows no bounds when, on the bed of sickness, his attentive
doctor and good angel pours into his eager ears the simple truths
of blessed Christianity, and brings his happy tale to a still
happier end, by illustrating that, as by his (the doctor's) skill,
the suffering body of the patient finds relief, so by the skilful
aid and love of Him who died for all, the poor, uncertain

CATHOLIC MISSION. 41

timorous, trembling soul that felt a certain consciousness of
sinful fear, and yet knew not where or how or to whom to fly for
succour, hails a rock on which to rest its weary wings, and fear
no more from sin's tempestuous storms !

It is not, then, to be wondered at, that the Siamese readily
give ear to the Catholic priest, bound like their own in bonds of
perpetual celibacy ; but, moreover, the priests adapted them-
selves in many ways to the usages and customs of the natives
themselves, and most strikingly so in one respect, that of never
wearing any covering on their head and never sitting in canoes
that were covered over. These are two customs which the
Siamese priesthood and royal family never deviate from; for
they deem it sacrilege to suppose that anything should
intervene between the lofty canopy of Heaven and their own
bald pates, excepting in their watts or temples, which are pre-
sumed to be hallowed, or in the palaces of the royal family,
which are also holy, as containing anointed and sacred kings.

How these French priests, some of whom had almost come
direct from their own country to these parts, managed to avoid
getting a coup de soleil, while skulking up and down the river
with their bare heads exposed to the vertical rays of a sun that
parched up the very earth, and quite baked the clay alongside
the banks of the river this has been ever a mystery. The
glare alone was sometimes sufficient to give me a headache ;
and yet these Catholic priests were about the healthiest set
of all those residing at Bangkok.

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHAPTER III.

Royal dockyards in Bangkok. Siamese navy. Quarrels with Cochin Chinese.
Names of Siamese ships of war, all British. How given. Composition of the
crews. Labourers in the dockyard. House of the Portuguese consul. Anecdote
about bricks. Story of vacancy among floating houses. Rebellion of Peer-si-pi-
foor. How it was arrested. Awful punishment of the rebel. Mr. Neale's
audience with the king. Wonderful Siamese map. Tombs of the three kings.

F the Government establishments in
Siam, the dockyards at Bangkok are not
the least interesting. They are partly
formed by nature, and partly con-
structed by man. There are both dry
and wet docks, but every single dock
is separated from the other ; and instead
of forming one vast basin, they line the
banks of the river for nearly a mile and
a half along the right shore. In these
docks, the fine vessels that compose the
fleet of his Siamese Majesty were con-
structed, under the superintendance of an English shipwright,
aided by experienced Chinese carpenters, who were sent to
Bombay and there apprenticed for several years, before they
were admitted into the Siamese employ.

The vessels composing the Siamese navy, at the period of my
visit, were fourteen in number, chiefly commanded and officered
by Englishmen, who in many cases were men of great talent
and nautical experience.

SIAMESE NAVY.

The following is a list of the Siamese ships of war :

Conqueror .
Victory .
Caledonia .
Good Success
Sir Walter Scott
Ariel

TONS.

1413

1400

1000

700

500

150

CAPTAINS.

Jacobs
Rogers .
Middleton
Triggs .
De Luz
Eglan .

. 60

. 44
. 22
. 10
. 6

The rest were principally war-junks and gun-boats, under the
command of Manilla-men and Chinese, and chiefly occupied

DRV DOCK, BANGKOK.

in cruising about the coast of Cambogia and the Malayan
peninsula.

The Siamese were usually on bad terms with their neigh-
bours, the Cochin - Chinese ; and on such occasions the whole
fleet were occupied in endeavouring to waylay and capture stray
Cochin-Chinese merchant-junks, which generally contained very

44 RESIDENCE IN SI AM.

valuable cargoes, destined for the Singapore or Borneo markets.
The Siamese junks, on more than one occasion, after giving
chase to a costly-freighted Tonkin junk, were but too happy to
haul their wind and make the best of their way back to Siam,
finding that the enemy was as well armed and manned as
themselves. The precautions both parties took on sighting each
other were ludicrous beyond measure. They fired shotted guns,
which fell, harmless, short of the mark, somewhere about a mile
and a half between them ; the Cochin-Chinaman meanwhile
making the best of his way towards the port of destination, and
the Siamese junk shortening sail according as she discovered or
guessed the strength of the enemy. We witnessed a scene of
this description once, whilst lying becalmed under the lee of
Pulo Obi, wholly unable, and, if truth be known, little
wishing to give pursuit to the unfortunate Cochin-Chinaman
who must have fallen an easy prey to us, as our vessel sailed
six knots to his one, and our weight of calibre would have sunk
him at the first broadside, or else so materially damaged the
rigging as to have compelled him to heave to immediately. In
either case the alternative was a sad one ; for had we carried
the crew prisoners to Siam we too well knew what cruelties
and miseries they would have to undergo, under the despotic
and tyrannous sway of the Siamese Government.

On one occasion the " Good Success " did capture a junk with
a very rich cargo ; the captain and crew came in for a handsome
share of prize-money, but the unfortunate and harmless captives
were subjected to the most barbarous treatment, the greatest
luxury afforded them being alligator's flesh, and that not the
freshest or best.

The reader will be surprised to see that most of the Siamese
ships of war are called after British names. This arose from
Mr. Hunter's having been on every occasion of a vessel's
launch solicited to give the name, and he having interpreted
the sense in Siamese, his choice usually gave the greatest
satisfaction.

SIAMESE NAVY. 45

The " Conqueror," one of the finest vessels of the fleet, was
unfortunately wrecked in a typhoon, and the " Caledonia " on a
subsequent occasion very nearly shared a similar fate.

The Lascars, or sailors of the Siamese navy, were in by far the
greater number Malays, the rest being Siamese or Burmese.
Each vessel carried two Chinese carpenters and their assistants,
and the seacunnies, or helmsmen, were principally Manilla men.
Each vessel was well manned, and the " Caledonia " had a crew
of two hundred and thirty-six individuals, captain, officers, and
marines included.

The Siamese Government pay very liberally. The captains
were in receipt of one hundred and fifty dollars per month, and
the first lieutenant received a hundred, and so on, the wages
gradually diminished ; the very sailors themselves being in the
receipt of, to them, handsome salaries.

No doctors, except Siamese ones, were permitted to enter the
navy, and for my own part, I would as fain swallow a cannon ball
as any of their boluses.

The shipwrights, carpenters, and labourers employed about the
dockyards, were kept up on regular pay, and there seldom lacked
employment for them : for what with their own vessels, and the
numberless junks that traded to and fro, there seldom passed a
day without some kind of job that needed their scientific aid ;
and the dock charges were all paid into the Government
treasury.

Taking into consideration the semi-barbarous condition of the
Siamese, the method they have adopted for organising their navy,
and the measures taken to keep up the dockyards, so as to be
both useful and lucrative, plainly evince a natural tact and
discernment highly commendable, and the naval force, if well
cared for and properly armed and equipped, might render infinite
service in helping to crush that hornet's nest of pirates ever to
be found amongst the islands and inlets of this very indifferently
explored gulf, many creeks of which no civilised eye has yet
penetrated, or is likely to penetrate for some time to come.

46 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

The residence of Signor Marsinello de Rosa, the Portuguese
consul, was very indifferently constructed with bamboos, poles,
lath and plaster, but it was an extensive house, cleanly white-
washed, neatly furnished, and situated in one of the pleasantest
positions in Siain. It was the original intention of the Portu-
guese Government to construct a splendid brick palace as a fit
residence for their envoy at this illustrious court, and so far had
they progressed towards the carrying out of their intention that a
vessel laden with the finest bricks, and accompanied by Portuguese
masons and artificers, actually sailed from Goa, (the Portuguese
island on the Malabar coast,) bound for the city of Bangkok.
But alas ! she was tempest-tost in the China Seas, and finally
stranded on some hidden shoal, from which the crew with
difficulty escaped with their lives the vessel went down the
bricks sunk with her, and so did the hopes of the poor Portuguese
consul, for his Government could but ill afford to risk such
another cargo, and so Signor de Rosa hoisted his flag on a flag-
staff more fitting for his originally intended consulate than it
was for the very unpresuming house he occupied. The consul
had been residing at Bangkok since the year 1828, and had, of
course, acquired a thorough knowledge of the Siamese dialect.
He was a gentlemanly quiet man, who passed his life in poring
over Siamese books, and seldom or never left his house unless to
attend mass of a Sunday, or to return a visit to his old and attached
friend Mr. Hunter. He was a meet neighbour for the quiet
unpresuming American missionaries that resided in this part of
the city, who were a far better disposed and educated set than
those that surrounded Mr. Hunter's new residence. Messrs.
Birch and Deane, in particular, were men worthy of the pro-
fession they had embraced : the former was possessed of con-
siderable private property, so that no earthly motive could
have induced him to enter the Church.

The Portuguese consulate and the missionaries' houses are in
this part so constructed as to form a tolerably large square,
extending from the Baptist chapel down to the banks of the river.

THE PORTUGUESE CONSUL.

47

On the very verge of these banks stood a stately old tamarind
tree, which had weathered nigh a century's storms and summers.
Under this tree Signor Marsinello de Eosa had constructed a few
pretty garden seats, and reared a few choice flowers. And on
this spot of a morning, before the sun's rays had waxed too

PORTUGUESE CONSULATE AND M1SS1OXAKY HOI SES, BANGKOK.

warm, and of an evening after the heat of the day had passed,
the consul and his sedate neighbours used to assemble and discuss
the latest news of the day, or watch the gay scene the river
presented, or turn to more gloomy themes and moralise on life
and its many uncertain tenures ; the incentive to such argument,
and what gave it gusto, being evidently the churchyard, which
was not twenty yards from the tamarind tree. I sometimes joined
these reunions when engaged to dine with Signor de Kosa, and
after making themselves as miserable as they could, the timely
cawing of the crows homeward bound to roost would warn

48 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Jonathan of its being time for tea and crackers, and the same
warning served to remind Signor Marsinello that dinner ought
to be ready, and so the melancholy knot would be unknotted.
Five yards from the roots of the tamarind tree, is the jetty or
landing-place, where a flight of very good wooden steps are
placed, descending which we get into our canoe, and paddle
up the river as fast as the tide and the sinewy arms of the Siamese
boatmen will carry us.

About a mile or two further up the river, you come to a
vacancy, amongst the floating-houses, situated very nearly
opposite to Mr. Hunter's house a void in those peopled
thoroughfares in which no Siamese would ever wish to moor his
house, or suffer his little canoe to paddle over its mystic waters.
Your boatmen shudder as you pass this place, and so do you
when you learn the sad tale that has doomed that spot to
perpetual solitude. The story is this :

Not many years before my arrival at Siam, and still perfectly
fresh in the memory of Mr. Hunter, a revolutionary outbreak
occurred in the interior provinces of Siam, the ringleader of
which was one Peer-si-pi-foor, or some such hard name a man,
who, from his wealth and natural cunning, possessed great
influence over many of the inhabitants of the interior provinces.
In an unlucky hour for him, the demon Ambition took firm
possession of his breast, and from that time forward he dreamt
but of the sceptre and the supreme sway. He consulted astro-
logers, who augured favourably for him ; he visited old witches
and beldames, and these worked up his inflamed imagination
with the most brilliant pictures of success and glory ; and the
Peer, backed by such a tissue of fortuitous events, proclaimed
open war against the King of Siam, whom he declared to be an
usurper, and issued proclamations and warrants duly electing
himself lawful successor to the throne. The priesthood and
populace were on his side, and to set the matter beyond 'the
shadow of a doubt, the Peer, in open day-light, appeared in
public decked gaudily in gold and tinsel habiliments, and

EEBELLION OF PEER-SI- PI-FOOK. 49

mounted upon the back of a white elephant ! it being an
understood thing all over the Siamese dominions, that none
but the king himself could ever presume to bestride a white
elephant, the beast held in most reverence amongst them as
a deity.

News of this alarming outbreak duly reached the ears of the
infuriated monarch at Bangkok, who instantly gave orders that
the trumpeter that day should, in addition to the usual permit
granted to all other nations of the earth, blast forth a loud and
direful revenge upon the head of the rebel-chief and his followers
proclaiming aloud that the celestial bodies (being connexions
of the royal family) had determined upon scorching them up till
they became as dung upon the earth.

The celestial bodie.s, however, took no active part in assisting
the enraged monarch, and in the interim, the rebel and his
followers made rapid progress, and were speedily approaching
the very capital itself. Their name spread terror through the
kingdom, and the King of Siam, amongst his fifteen hundred
wives and numberless concubines, sat down and trembled as a
boy would sit behind his mother's chair, who expects castigation
for some juvenile delinquency. The few Europeans, inhabiting
Bangkok, began to be alarmed for their lives and property, and
sought safety on board of some vessels that were anchored at the
mouth of the bar.

In this crisis, Mr. Hunter bethought him of turning to some
use the guns that were rusting on board the vessels of war ;
the hint was given at head-quarters, and joyfully acted upon ;
and, as the ships of war were of too great a tonnage to proceed
up as far as Yuthia, the ancient capital, the water there being
extremely shallow, several of the guns were transhipped into
smaller craft, and, with ample supply of ammunition, and under
the direction of a few Englishmen and Siamese, the expedition,
composed of a body of nearly twelve thousand men, sailed up the
river amidst the acclamation and prayers of the whole city. On
arriving at Yuthia, the guns were landed, and, by means of

50 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

trucks, conveyed to a village three miles in the interior, and in
that direction from which the assault of the rebel and his
followers was expected. Here, under the superintendence of

Messrs. H r and M n (the latter in the Siamese service)

serviceable batteries were soon constructed, the cannon well and
firmly mounted, and loaded with grape shot. Scarce two days
had elapsed after the completion of these very necessary prepa-
rations, when the frightened inhabitants of the village were
awoke one morning by the shouts and victorious yells of the
rebel and his followers, and great indeed was their consternation
to find that the numbers of the enemy vastly exceeded their own.
They would have fled instantly, had not the English and Manilla-
men, aided by a few staunch Malay Lascars, previously and
in secret consulted together, and taken precaution against such
an event. In placing the guns in the batteries, they had not neg-
lected to have some four or five pointed towards that direction
by which alone the runaways had escaped, and now, match in

hand, M n declared aloud to them, that if they dared be such

dastards as to desert them at that critical moment, he would not
only knock them to pieces with their own guns, but would, if
obliged to return to Bangkok, have every man put to the rack to
suffer a lingering death. This proclamation had a salutary effect.
The Siamese, seeing escape vain, determined to act as desperate
men often act, with a false courage.

Meanwhile, the noise of the invaders grew louder and more
appalling ; their songs of revelry and mirth proclaimed to the
listeners their certainty of undisputed possession ; they were not
two hundred yards off the batteries (which they imagined to be
lime-kilns, or some such harmless erections), when, at a given
signal, a cloud of smoke burst forth enveloping everything in its
darkness, followed by the bright flash and the thundering roar
of that most unexpected artillery. The enemy reeled and
staggered beneath amazement and fear, and the shrieks and
groans of the dying and the wounded proclaimed the awful
execution that that " iron tempest " had committed. Before

PUNISHMENT OF THE IlEBEL. 51

the smoke had cleared away, before those that were unscathed

knew how to act, or where to fly to, Captain M n, with a

chosen body of Manilla-men, had sallied forth, and capturing
the rebel and one or two of his followers, was on the safe side
of the stockade again. The others were all busy in sponging and
reloading the guns an unnecessary precaution, as ere this
operation was completed under their unskilful hands, the whole
rebel army had fled far beyond range of cannon shot.

Peer-si-pi-foor was carried to Bangkok, tried as a traitor, and
sentenced to death. This was what might have been expected
even in countries far more civilised than Siam, but the appalling-
part of the tale is the method by which the sentence was put
into execution. The wretched criminal was condemned, first to
have both his eyes put out by the application of searing-irons,
and then to be placed in an iron cage (that had formerly had for
inmate a Bengal royal tiger), which was suspended just so high
above the waters of the river, that the unfortunate captive by
stretching his arms through the close iron bars could barely
manage to touch the ripple of the waters with the extreme
tip of his fingers.

Here without food or raiment, with no protection from the
fierce sultry heat of the noontide sun, with his brains racking
and burning, and suffering from the acutest agonies that thirst
can impart, did that unhappy culprit listen to the cool rippling
sound of these waters, for one drop of which, like Dives of old, he
prayed to wet his parched and withering tongue. How earnestly
did that man pray for death, and that dark Angel, at all times
too ready to come unbidden, kept aloof, and mocked his misery
for three long days and nights.

Mr. Hunter charitably undertook to petition the king, that at
least the man might at once be put out of his misery ; but the
flint-hearted monarch had a revengeful and insatiable temper,
so that the petition proved of no avail : and when the wretched
rebel died as he did, at length, happily for the alleviation of his
suffering, as an unconscious lunatic, a universal murmur of dis-

E 2

52 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

satisfaction spread on every side, and even the most barbarous of
the Siamese conceived an utter detestation for the monarch who
had so publicly displayed a spirit that evil demons could hardly
excel.

The mixed groans and execrations of the dying rebel are said
to have been the most heart-rending, and mothers use the name
of the unfortunate Peer-si-pi-foor as a warning to hush their
crying children to sleep ; the spot where the cage was suspended
is still distinguishable, being the only open space along the right
bank of the river, from the Portuguese Consulate up to the
palace and the tombs of the three kings.

The other principal ringleaders met with comparatively easy
ends, and the whole country and provinces which had risen up
against the government, were laid under heavier taxation than
that inflicted on any other portion of the empire.

The king gave us an audience soon after my arrival at Bangkok.
Mr. Hunter introduced myself and the several European ship-
masters into the royal presence. In the first place we left
Mr. Hunter's about two p.m., in a very gorgeously gilded state
canoe, that had been placed at our disposal by Prenawa Consett,
the Lord High Admiral of Siam. On arriving at the palace
steps, which were dangerously slippery and offensively filthy, we
were compelled to induce the boatmen by promises of a reward,
to carry us on their shoulders to terra firma, white duck trousers
not being peculiarly suited to the puddles we should have had
to hop through. Once on dry land we began to look about the
court-yard of the palace. It was filled with a strange con-
glomeration of beautiful Italian statues, placed on pedestals of
chaste workmanship, and of uncouth and unseemly figures of
Siamese deities and many-armed gods. Amidst these latter,
representations of many four-footed animals, held in much
reverence by the Siamese, were to be seen. After loitering here
for about half an hour, which half hour was pleasantly enough
passed, we were summoned into an antechamber, where we were
permitted the very unusual luxury of European chairs to rest

INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 53

ourselves on, till such time as His Mightiness, the connexion of
the many bright stars in the firmament, should see fit and proper
to summon us into his most august presence. Finally, the
summons came, and we were ushered into the presence-chamber
of royalty : when I say ushered, I should rather have written,
we hopped into the presence-chamber on all fours, like a company
of frogs on the borders of a marsh ; and this method of approach-
ing the king was a leniency only accorded to us, for the Siamese
themselves crept in on their stomachs, and remained prostrate
during the whole interview. On our first entry, I could perceive
nothing but a very magnificent curtain worked entirely of gold
and silver tissue, which stretched across the whole length of the
room ; presently the soft notes of a remarkably sweet-toned organ
reached our ears, and as the symphony gradually swelled into
the beautiful cadence of one of Mozart's masterpieces, the curtain
drew aside by degrees, and revealed to our expectant eyes the
corpulent and half-naked body of the mighty and despotic king
of Siam. The silence that ensued for some minutes was only
interrupted by the sweet music of that self-performing little
organ ; and innumerable were the prostrations made by the
craven courtiers and flatterers that surrounded His Majesty.
The king was seated upon a throne (cross-legged of course,) of
somewhere about two feet elevation from the ground, formed of
most exquisite workmanship in ivory and ebony, with a cushion
and hangings of fine red velvet, inwrought with silver : and the
scene would have been very imposing, had it not been for the
ludicrous appearance of His Majesty himself, who (excepting the
fine gold tissue cloth wound round his loins, and reaching down
to his knees,) had very much the appearance of an old over-
bloated Brahmin priest, and appeared to have been putting to the
test that insane practice, which tradition attributes to the
Brahmin tribe, of eating till the straw which they had previously
tied round their stomach as a mark to limit their feastings,
should burst.
At length, after puffing and blowing like a porpoise, he

54 UES1DENCE IN SIAM.

managed with an evident effort to press into the service his
very wheezing and wretchedly cracked voice : he told the inter-
preter to inform us that he had been at variance with the
Burman Empire for several years past regarding a boundary
question that the Burmese were a complete flock of silly geese
to dare to presume to dispute his rights and that if they
persisted in their ignorance and folly he should be compelled
to send a handful of chosen valiant soldiers and one or two of
his irresistible ships of war for the benign purpose of cooking his
(the Burman Emperor's) goose. His corpulent Majesty got so
excitable upon this subject that he insisted upon the chart of the
two kingdoms (drawn, as he proudly informed us, by his own
prime minister) being laid upon the ground before us, to the
end that we might be fully convinced of the utter absurdity and
folly of the Burmese pretension. A huge roll of canvass was
accordingly produced, but before allowing it to be unrolled, His
Majesty impressed upon us the incontrovertible fact that such
portion of the chart as was painted red indicated the Siamese
possessions, whereas the green signified the Burmese territory. The
map was then carefully and slowly unrolled, the old king eyeing
us the while through his fishy-looking eyes, as though he expected
that the brilliancy of the painting, and the exquisite display
of Siamese geographical talent, would have caused us to faint
away on the spot, or go into rapturous fits of delight. Happening,
however, to be Europeans, and more especially Englishmen, and
having chanced to set our eyes upon such things as charts and
maps before, no such disastrous effects resulted. We were,
however, very nearly outraging all propriety by bursting into
fits of laughter, and very painful was the curb we were obliged
to wear to restrain our merriment. The inclination to smile, too
visibly depicted in our faces to be mistaken, was, happily, by His
Majesty, construed into delight and admiration at the beautiful
work of art set before us to dazzle our eyes with its excessive
brilliancy of colour. The map was about three feet by two ; in
the centre was a patch of red, about eighteen inches long by ten

NATIVE MAP OF SIAM. 55

)road ; above it was a patch of green, about ten inches long by
three wide. On the whole space occupied by the red was
pasted a singular looking figure, cut out of silver paper, with
a pitch-fork in one hand and an orange in the other : there was
a crown on the head, and spurs on the heels, and the legs, which
were of miserably thin dimensions, met sympathetically at the
knees, and this cadaverous looking creature was meant to

SIAMI^K II A 1'.

represent the bloated piece of humanity seated before us,
indicating that so vast were his strength and power that it
extended from one end of his dominions to the other. In the
little patch of green, a small Indian-ink figure, consisting of a
little dot for the head, a large dot for the body, and four
scratches of the pen to represent the legs and arms, was intended

56 EESIDENCE IN STAM.

for the wretched Tharawaddy, the then King of Burmah. A
legion of little imps, in very many different attitudes, were
dancing about his dominions, and these hieroglyphics were to
show to the uninitiated in what a troubled and disturbed state
the Burmese empire was, and what an insignificant personage,
in his own dominions, was the Burman king. Betwixt the
green and the red, there was a broad black stripe, an indis-
putable boundary line ; and on the red side of the black
stripe, a little curved thin line drawn with ink, to indicate the
territory laid claim to by the Birmans but disputed by the
Siamese ; the rest of the map was all blue, and on this blue,
which was the ocean, all round the red or Siamese territory
vilely painted ships were represented sailing to and fro,
some with the masts towards the land, the others evidently
bottom up, at least their masts pointed in the wrong direction.
The poor Burmese had not even so much as a boat to display.
Having, of course, acquiesced in all that His Majesty said, and
given utterance to exclamations of surprise in mute show, like
so many ballet dancers, the old king seemed to be quite pleased
and delighted, and ordering the map to be carried away indulged
in a confidential chuckle for a few seconds. On the interpreter's
return we were asked many trivial and ridiculous questions. He

asked Mr. H if Captain de la T e was a doctor, and on

being answered in the negative he wished to be informed whether
he was a barber, then on being again answered in the negative, he
seemed quite surprised, for the highest profession amongst the
Siamese is that of a medical man, and next to him ranks the
barber.

In the very midst of all these questions and answers, and
at a time when his Siamese stoutness seemed to take a very
lively interest in what was going on, the curtain very suddenly
and unexpectedly dropped, and the king was totally eclipsed
from our admiring gaze. The courtiers made three devout
humble prostrations to the curtain, and then we silently and
noiselessly withdrew. As soon as we had fairly gained the

TOMBS OF THE THREE KINGS. 57

outer court, I asked an explanation of this sudden disappearance
of royalty. " Hoot awa, mun ! " said H , who was a Scotch-
man, and thoroughly retained the brogue, " Hoot awa, mun ! do
ye no ken that this is breakfast time ? " And so it was ! His
Majesty, feeling hungrily conscious of the fact, had thought fit
to make this sudden exit, leaving us uninitiated in the dark for
the time being. This was the first, as it was the last, visit I
ever paid to the imperial palace ; and my opinion was, and is
now, that any common cooly picked out of the streets of
Madras would have cut just as respectable a figure as His
Majesty, and even perhaps have had more manners and
politeness.

Leaving the palace, we strolled on foot as far as the tombs of
the three kings, three of the most singular-looking pillars, I
suppose, in existence. The pedestals are about twelve feet high,
and are built square, each side measuring fourteen feet. These
pedestals are constructed of the finest black granite, and the
cornices and ring round the top and bottom part are of exqui-
sitely-chiseled ivory, representing birds and flowers, and groups
of animals : from the pedestals the pillars rise in a high conical
form, and are, I should imagine, thirty feet in height, if not
more, from the top of the pedestal ; the columns themselves are
wrought in a chessboard-pattern, having little square pieces of
different materials let into the solid masonry, and so closely con-
nected that it is only on very near inspection the cement can be
discovered. No two patterns are of the same material : one is
gold, the next ivory, then porcelain-ware, then copper, then
silver, and so on in regular succession, but all arranged with
great attention to colour and shade ; and the combined effect
produced by these, when the sun shines upon them and they
are viewed from afar, is really dazzling beyond description.
Beneath these are supposed to repose the remains of three
Siamese monarchs, celebrated alike as the bravest of the brave
in warfare, and the mildest of the mild in peace-time : the
fathers and protectors of their people.

58

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHAPTER IV.'

Marriage ceremonies Description of a Siamese beauty and her accomplishments.
Siamese courtship. Negotiation with the parents. The Bridegroom's new canoe.
Funeral rites of the Siamese. Burning of Bodies.

HE ceremony of marriage is seldom
performed in Siam, and never amongst
the poorer classes. These latter pur-
chase or barter for a wife, so soon
as they consider themselves old enough
to be married, and except some
stranger fall in love with the bride, and
offer a round sum for her, she generally
remains for life with the first choice
of her heart, if that indispensable
article in love has had anything to do
with the affair ; but the nobles and
wealthier portion of the inhabitants marry and are
given in marriage amongst their own peculiar class
and clique, and this they do to strengthen their
influence by ties with opulent and influential
During my sojourn at Siam, two or three of the
lords of the land were married, and if I describe the court-
ship and marriage of one of these it will be sufficient to give
the reader an idea of how such things are done at Bangkok.
One of the Lord High Admirals took it into his head to increase
his wealth and connexions by a marriage, and fell straight in
love with the daughter of the Praklan, not that he had ever

families.

SIAMESE COUIITSHIP. 50

seen the fair damsel in question, but he had heard her beauties
described by his mother an old lady remarkably similar in face
and shape to one of Macbeth's witches. I speak from experience,
for I have often seen the old lady in question (not the witch, but
the mother of Consett). Well, this old lady had filled Consett's
head with very many accounts of the fair one in question ; she
was compared to a young and timid doe, trembling at the sight
of a man from behind her muffling veils (for the higher classes go
about covered like Turkish women), as a doe would at the sight
of a royal tiger ; her eyebrows were only to be equalled in beauty
and blackness by a couple of leeches. Of course her eyes were
diamonds her teeth highly polished ebony and as for her hair,
no cockatoo could boast of such a tuft. Her accomplishments
were ladylike and pleasing for a Siamese ; she swam like an
alligator sung like a bulbul (one with a bad cold, I imagine)
danced to the music of the reed instrument and never ceased
chewing betelnut, having always a quid in her left cheek. The
possession of such a treasure must needs be of very great
importance to a Siamese gentleman, and consequently no time
was to be lost in securing her. Under these circumstances the
old mother was immediately despatched with a snow-white
pigeon and a rose, to be laid at the feet of the young lady, in
the name of her son. If the young lady was agreeable (and I
never heard of any one getting jeioabbed, i. e., refused in Siam)
then the rose was placed iii her bosom, and the pigeon was
liberated. The anxious lover and his friends, being on the look
out in their garden, hail the return of the bird with loud accla-
mations and other demonstrations of joy, and pass that day and
the three following in merry-making and riot. The father, so
soon as he is made acquainted with the circumstance, orders his
state canoe and pays a visit to the intended bridegroom. Not
the slightest allusion is made on either side to the all important
question at issue. The son-in-law that is to be, receives his
distinguished guest with all becoming honours a "feu dejoie"
of musketry is fired on his arrival something is said about a

60 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

white pigeon having flown over from his house and then the
merry-making and festivity are pursued with great hilarity.
Whilst this is going on at the happy man's house, the affianced
lady receives the congratulatory visits of all her female acquaint-
ance, and, like all oriental ladies, a great deal of weeping and
wailing takes place, for they dearly love tears, do the Siamese
ladies. They weep out of joy, and from sorrow only too glad to
find an opportunity of displaying their tender feelings : the more
hardened, and such as find it difficult to cry, resort to strong
onions, the juice of which makes the eye water most abundantly,
and these may be termed alligator's tears.

The bridegroom is obliged to have an entirely new canoe,
constructed for the express purpose of conveying the bride from
her father's residence to her future abode for life, and when this
boat or vehicle is finished, then for the first time the father
becomes publicly acquainted with the astounding fact of his
daughter's approaching marriage. He appears hypocritically
unconscious of the fact, and naturally declines that his daughter
should quit him without a handsome equivalent. This kind of
parley occupies some time ; at last, a talapoin, or priest, is
called in to witness the signature of the bridegroom attached to
a paper, which declares that the young lady in question is thence-
forward his wife, and further that in case of death or accident
she shall be entitled to what the law usually awards to widows,
as also, that, in case of quarrels or discontentment which might
lead to a separation, then the husband can only send the wife
back to her father's house, on the payment of just double the
dower received at her marriage. This concluded, the bridegroom
returns home, and the bride soon follows in her new canoe. The
wives and female relatives of the bridegroom receive her, and
duly instal her in her new abode, and from that day forward they
are man and wife.

In the watts or places of worship of so large a city as Bangkok,
we naturally had often occasion of witnessing the funeral rites
and ceremonies of the people. As a result of the climate, bodies

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 61

could not be kept for a longer period above ground than what
was absolutely necessary for the requisite preparations, which,
amongst the better classes, consisted in embalming the bodies
with spices and rich oily perfumes, such as oil of sandal wood, attar
of roses, and other such-like ingredients, which facilitated and
expedited the consumption of the body, and its utter reduction
to ashes when once exposed to the flames of the fuel placed under
and piled around the bier, cemented together with cow-dung and
clay, and grotesquely decorated with flowers, both artificial and
real. The court-yards of the watts are, so to say, the cemeteries
of the Siamese ; at least, they are the last places on this earth
in which the human form of the Siamese reposes before becoming
a nothing a thing without shape or existence, scattered by
the four winds of heaven as they list. The last rites of a
rich man in Siam are certainly emblematical, to such as studied
the matter at all, of the vanity and vain end of all human pomps
and glories. The man who had enjoyed wealth and indolent
luxuriance during a long life spent in the achievement of
worthless pleasures, that man, now bereft of all those senses
the gratification and indulgence of which were his every-day
pastimes, lies stretched inanimate, and horribly void of every-
thing to which life and intellect lend such a glorious being ; a
cold, rigid piece of clay, infinitely below comparison with the
least creeping insects of the earth, over whose head he once
proudly strode, but which now, in seeming mockery, full of
that life and energy which he so fearfully lacked, crawl in
multitudes around, basking in the rich glow of sunshine, inhaling
every breath of heaven, and running the giddy race of life,
attracted evidently to the spot by the rich smell of malliapoo
(an eastern jessamine), an odoriferous plant, and one containing
secreted saccharine matter, on which various insects, from the bee
and butterfly to the small black ant, delight to feast. Festoons of
flowers hang round the bier, which is usually covered with a
richly-worked piece of Indian muslin ; men and women in holiday
attire and a large number of priests are gathered around the

0-2 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

remains of their departed friend, joining in every indecorous
demonstration of enjoyment and amusement, till the propitious
hour for the commencement of the last requiem arrives.
Meanwhile, nature around wears generally a smiling aspect ; the
gaudily-built watt, whose lofty and richly inlaid spires are
glittering in the rich afternoon sunlight ; the various groups
of flower-shrubs waving their beautiful boughs to and fro as
the cool evening breeze rocks them ever and anon ; the tall
handsome fruit-trees of the East, clad in rich profusion of foliage,
amongst whose many branches birds of fifty plumages are
sporting and carolling gaily ; the clearness of the sky itself,
the cool blue waters of the mighty river that ripples close up
to the very spot where all that remains of a once haughty man
now lies exposed to the last gaze of that bright nature to whose
very brightness he but seldom gave one passing thought;
these and many other similar circumstances serve to give the
spectacle that solemnity and dread attraction, which, beyond
doubt, it should ever command. At length the chief talapoin
gives the signal that the propitious hour for the ceremonial has
at length arrived ; the notes of a discordant band now strike up
a hideous music ; the priests commence repeating prayers and
incantations ; relations assemble round the bier, which is denuded
of its rich coverings ; and the body, being lifted from the wooden
coffin, is laid by one of the officiating laity on the vast pile
of combustible matter. Lighted tapers are handed to all those
present, without respect to creed or position in life ; each helps
to ignite the pile ; and the angry flame rears itself proudly in the
air, enveloping shortly all in one thick dense cloud of smoke
and fire. Meanwhile the relatives stand in a circle round the
fire, and go through the prescribed ceremonial of tossing their
clothes, tied up in small compact bundles, six times over the
intensely hot flames, taking alike great precaution that no
particle of fire should attach itself to these bundles, or that they
should by any mishap chance to let them fall to the ground.
Meanwhile the fire blazes on intensely, the crackling of faggots.

FUNERAL KITES. 03

and other things too horrible for the conception, ceases, the
smoke diminishes, the furnace still continues to emit small
streaks of flame at intervals, and so effectually has the incen-
diarism of the priests been perpetrated, that not one atom of
that wonderful structure once called a man now exists, save
a few handfuls of ashes, which, owing to a sun-dried kiln
on which the body lies, have been protected from mingling with
the cinders of the numerous other ingredients consumed in
the fire. The ceremony is over; the birds chaunt sweetly as
ever ; the sun shines as unclouded ; the trees alone have
lengthened their shadows a little ; but beyond this there is no
grave, or no one mark more positive to indicate to the inquirers
of some few months hence the exact spot where the dead man
lay, than there is upon the mighty ocean to show where such
and such a sailor found a watery grave !

Now with respect to the formula observed by the relations, of
tossing their clothes over the dead body six consecutive times,
I could acquire no exact information, nor has any as yet been
discovered as existing in the Siamese religious code, by the
many European travellers of almost all European nations, who
visited Siam nearly two centuries ago. I have, however, little
doubt that this ignorance mainly arises from travellers lacking
opportunity and position which might enable them to investigate
thoroughly the Siamese libraries (which chiefly belong to the
various watts), and which abound with palm-leaf MSS. of
Siamese authors of a very ancient date.

No European has yet visited Siam that has not to a certain
extent been the dupe of oral traditions. The learned talapoins
have in all ages evinced a dislike to enter too freely on the
subject of their creeds and disbeliefs, when conversing with
strangers ; and, even when permitted to have free access to their
libraries, it would occupy a man's lifetime in looking over
these uncouth records of literature, before perhaps arriving at
one really useful and instructive MS. ; besides which, a man must
have been many years a resident on the spot, and had continual

64 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

intercourse with natives of all classes, before he could acquire
anything approaching to a perfect knowledge of the Siamese
language. The longest resident Europeans at the capital have
been almost invariably merchants, men whose whole soul and
energies were exhausted in acquiring wealth, or discovering some
new opening in the commercial enterprise of Siam, which might
eventually lead to such a desideratum. Some of the French
missionaries, who had for upwards of a quarter of a century
resided at Bangkok, possessed both the talent and the means of
penetrating further into Siamese lore and literature than any
Europeans have heretofore done ; but whether they have given
their experiences to the French public or not, I am at a loss to
ascertain. One man (an ingenious clever man in his way, and
a Chinaman to boot) told a friend of mine that he imagined the
formula observed at the funeral ceremony of the Siamese, viz.,
that of tossing bunMes, may be traced to have originated with a
superstition very prevalent amongst the priesthood of Siam, viz.,
that there exists an immense gulf of fire between this world and
a future better state, and that a man, according to his conduct in
life, is enabled to skim this naming lake scathelessly, and without
fear. Six times, however, is the soul of even the very best
destined to undergo life in the shape and form of a man before
acquiring a perfect and permanent right to enter into an eternal
rest on those Elysian shores, which, according to the height of
Siamese indolent luxuriance, abound with pleasant sleep and
smiling dreams, and brighter waking realities. During these six
trials on earth, should the man prove guilty of an offence towards
the deities, then is he condemned to a renewed term of purgatory,
which extends over a greater or less space of time, according to
the gravity of the offence committed ; if only a peccadillo, the
punishment is lenient, and the next appearance on earth is in
the human form ; if of a graver nature, he has the felicity of
visiting this in shape of an owl, or a snake, or a centipede,
or some such little desirable creature ; and if, after this reduction
in the ranks of life, the soul, instead of repenting, turns more

FUNERAL RITES. 65

stubborn or mutinous than the body which contains it, it is
immediately dissolved the owl is shot or the snake killed, and
the penalty becomes vastly augmented and extended through a
century of years, during which century the criminal spirit is said
to be occupied in the not very delightful task of carrying water
in a wicker basket, from the stream of abundance (the Menam)
across an extensive fiery plain, a journey of many hours' heat
and thirst, to quench the insatiable thirst of a fiery old dragon
that dwells on the other side, and who, notwithstanding the many
unfortunates employed in his service, can never get more than
about a teaspoonful of water in the space of an hour, to cool
his scorching throat. Hence (said the Chinaman), to wish
their departed friend a safe transit across this dreadful gulf, they
toss their clothes over the flames consuming his mortal remains,
the action being emblematical of their wishes that, as their
clothes unscorched reach their hands after flying over the fire,
six successive times, without one break in the interval, so they
trust that this may be the sixth and last visit of the now
departed spirit across the flaming gulf, to the sought-for haven of
repose. In connection with this theory, I may remark, that the
Siamese seldom or never, in any amusement, resort to the
recreation of catching a thing with their hands ; as a ball, for
instance ; neither will they make use of a bat, but they inva-
riably bring the sole of the foot into play, as in the instance of
their method of playing battledore and shuttlecock.

Burning is not always resorted to by the Siamese there are
many of the poorer classes who cannot afford to pay the
talapoins their accustomed fees, insignificant though they
comparatively be ; but these very poor people inhabit the
villages of the interior, and they bury their dead, simply marking
the spot with a bamboo pole, so that in point of fact no grave is
to be seen in the whole of Siam, excepting in such small spaces
as have been allotted to Europeans, and Christian and other
sects inhabiting Bangkok, and which are so insignificant as
barely to attract attention. So rare are these instances of

F

Ob RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

poverty, and so exclusively are the spots known to the relatives
(who leave marks simply to identify the spot, in case of future
prosperity smiling upon them, and enabling them to recover the
bones for the purpose of burning them), that not even the
Siamese can indicate the spot that denotes a grave, as bamboo
poles are used for landmarks, and employed in various other
methods.

When any epidemic has prevailed at Bangkok, or when the
cholera scourges that city, then all ideas of ceremonials are
instantly abandoned ; the bodies of men, women, and children,
in whom life is barely extinct, are bundled without distinction
into large pits or tanks, or, what is even still worse, into
the river.

GEOGEAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF SIAM.

67

CHAPTEE V.

Geographical description of Siam. Account of the inhabitants. Chinese part of the
population. Articles of commerce. Native wealth of Siam. Vegetable and
mineral. Reasons why it is not developed. Gamboge. Petrats The Tokay.
Adventures with. Birds. Fruits. Climate of Bangkok. Food of the Siamese-
Intoxicating drinks. Samshoe. General temperance of the people. Prevalent
diseases. Digression on the effect of change and custom on our ideas of beauty
Description of the Monsoons. Kavages of cholera. Precautions against.
Kitchen vegetables. The tea-plant.

HE Siamese Empire consists of Lao,
part of Cambogia and a few small
Malayan States ; but the question
of boundary lines has ever been
a sore bone of contention between
the Siamese and their immediate
neighbours : hence it is difficult to
draw an exact limit to these pos-
sessions, they often laying claim
to states and territory which are
in reality under the sway of the
Burmese or Cochin-Chinese. The
extent of Siam in geographical
miles may, however, be pretty correctly guessed from the
information 011 this head amassed by the Prince Chou-Faa ; he
reckoned its area to consist of about one hundred and eighty-four
thousand miles ; but little is known of the nature of the country
in the interior, excepting that the skirts of it are very moun-
tainous, and that large tracts of jungle exist, which afford an

68 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

asylum to numerous elephants and great numbers of beasts of
prey. These lofty ranges of mountains are distinctly seen from
parts of the gulf, and one or two conical and singularly-shaped
hills are excellent land-marks to guide the navigator. The
Menam flows right through Siam, and small vessels could and
do navigate it to a great distance up the interior. An annual
inundation takes place along its banks, and this has in all
probability induced the natives to abandon erecting cottages
on terra firma, excepting at inland villages, and there they, like
the natives of Sumatra, have them propped up on very lofty
poles. Thai Yoi and Thai Noe are the two distinct tribes that
inhabit Siam ; the former being the fierce and independent
mountaineers who, like the Anzari Arabs in the Sultan's dominions,
scorn servitude, or to bend to the yoke of taxation. These have,
in times of war and trouble, proved themselves valiant and effi-
cient soldiers ; but, like bandits and outlaws, they make occa-
sional descents into the low country, which they pillage at their
will and pleasure. The Thai Noe, or lowlanders, suffer themselves
to be governed and ruled by the laws of the country, and are for
the greater part a peaceable and even honest set, and are chiefly
employed in agricultural pursuits. Many Chinese * who have

* Mr. Finlayson, who accompanied Crawford's embassy, says : " It is to the
Chinese nation that the Siamese are indebted for whatever knowledge they possess ot
the advantages of commercial intercourse. In defiance of the laws of the Celestial
Empire there, would appear to be scarcely any limit to the extent of emigration from
that great empire. Her subjects are the best and most industrious part of the popu-
lation of the surrounding nations, over whom their industry, their superior intelligence,
and knowledge of the arts have given them a great and decided superiority. Siam,
a country sunk under the most debasing tyranny, destitute alike of arts and commerce,
offered a fair field for the development of their superiority. Fear had long opposed
obstacles to the increase of the Chinese, till at length the government, either from
conscious incapacity of restraining them longer, or from motives of a different nature,
has at length given them the most unbounded encouragement, and granted them
privileges which render their condition infinitely preferable to that of the natives of
the country, On the other hand, the benefits which the Chinese emigrants have
conferred on this rude nation are of obvious and striking utility, and of no ordinary
importance. They have sown the seeds of commercial enterprise. They have created
commerce where none previously existed, and with their hands they have, as it were,

PKODUCT10NS OF SIAM. 69

settled and married in Siam reap immense wealth from sugar-
plantations they possess in the interior : others are occupied in
the cultivation of tobacco and several kinds of cotton, and a few
make a living by collecting a gum much used as incense.
Gamboge, sapan wood, and other valuable products are all
brought from the interior to Bangkok, where, being weighed
and taxed, they are retailed to the more opulent merchants
established in that city, and by these latter shipped for Singapore,
Bombay, and England. Black pepper is abundant and cheap ;
its growth is a kind of monopoly, purchased of the king, and of
this article alone, in 1841, no less than 5,000,000 were shipped
for various markets. Under a better sway, what country in the
East would rival Siam ? Kich in its soil and productions,
possessed of valuable mines and gums, spices and pepper, the
best and cheapest rice and sugars, and the land absolutely
encumbered with the most luscious fruit in the world. The
article of cocoa-nut oil alone would yield no inconsiderable
revenue ; but though the Siamese call themselves Thai, or free,
they are, at the best, an oppressed and cringing people, too full
of their own troubles and taxation to give a thought to the
improvement of their own resources by diligent labour and
occupation. Even as matters stand, the export trade is esti-
mated at nearly a million sterling, whilst the imports are very
insignificant, and many parts of the interior are wholly unsupplied
with numbers of articles that would find a ready and easy
market. This is partly attributable to the exorbitant tonnage
dues and duties that are levied upon foreign vessels and their
cargoes, which necessarily very much augment the value of
goods, and thus place them beyond the reach of that poorer

called into existence some of the more valuable objects of commerce. Scarce twenty
years have elapsed [he is writing in 1821] since the first sugar-canes were planted in
this kingdom. The annual produce in sugar at the present time is stated to amount
to 30,000 peculs, of 133J Ibs. each, or 1788 tons. This constitutes, in fact, the most
valuable commercial article of the realm. The culture is managed solely by the
Chinese, and it is the opinion of the chief Suri-Wong that it may be carried to an
almost unlimited extent."

70 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

class of merchants who alone would undertake the risks and
difficulties attendant upon a commerce with the interior, more
especially as regards the returns to be purchased or bartered,
the value of which, when brought to Bangkok, after all expenses
incurred, would barely cover the outlay.

The gamboge obtained at Siam is very brilliant in colour. It
exudes from incisions made in the bark of a tree, and is caught
or collected in small chatties or earthern pots (such as are used
to collect toddy in India) suspended from the boughs of the trees.
It requires no further preparation to make it fit for the market,
speedily assuming a concrete form. The Siamese are mostly
tillers of the ground, with the exception of such as reside at
Bangkok ; they have all the hard and laborious work, and the
Chinese monopolise the easier and more scientific, as also more
lucrative employments, such, for instance, as making and refining
the sugar. The annual inundations of the Menam are very
beneficial to the sugar-cane plantations and rice fields, both of
which in these hot climates require a great deal of moisture
upon the same plea as the soldier had on being taxed with
habitual drunkenness "The climate was always a-hot, and
made him always a-dry."

It is a remarkable fact that in the kingdom of Siam, with the
exception of the very lowest menials, there are no two persons
of the same grade or rank ; and, from the king downward, each
in his turn receives homage from his inferiors, which homage
is paid by prostration and remaining in that attitude during the
whole interview. In Europe and the more civilised countries,
people rise up as a mark of respect to any that may chance to
enter the room ; in Siam, they squat down with their hands
crossed and their heads hanging down with an abashed air.
When servants bring in refreshments, they crawl about the
room in a very ludicrous attitude, putting one forcibly in
mind of the disagreeable fact that men and monkeys are, after
all, very much alike ; and this similitude is one reason why

DOMESTIC RATS.

monkeys are so much respected, all over the Indian continent,
by the many castes that place implicit faith in the doctrine of
transmigration : for all good men of their faith are presumed,
after this life, to assume the form most approximating to that
which they had quitted. At Sautgar a station half-way
between Bangalore and Madras, and celebrated throughout the
presidency for the very fine oranges its gardens produce the
innumerable troops of monkeys that infest the neighbour-
hood are permitted, unmolested, to plunder the fruit, and very
fair havoc they make. On one occasion, a young officer who
shot one of these felons was attacked, not by the natives, but by
troops of savage and malignant monkeys, that surrounded the
traveller's bungalow, and actually tried to force open the
strongly-barricaded door, to the alarm and terror of the young
man, who remained in this unenviable position till his servants
and palanquin-bearers came to the rescue. The Siamese have
an innumerable string of minor deities, some in the shape of rats
and cats, and their months and days of the month are named
after these. I was astonished, on visiting the houses of some of
the inhabitants, to see a huge rat walking quietly about the
room and crawling up the master's legs in a cool familiar
manner. Instead of repulsing it, or evincing any alarm, he took
it up in his hands and caressed it ; and then I learnt, for the
first time, and to my utter astonishment, that it was a custom
prevalent in Bangkok to keep pet rats, which are taken very young
and carefully reared, till they attain a perfectly monstrous size
from good and plentiful feeding. These domestic rats are kept
expressly to free the house of other vermin of their own race,
and so ferocious are they in the onslaughts they make that few
of the houses are ever annoyed by mice or rats. The houses
are occasionally infested with reptiles, the banks of the river
being literally overrun with snakes, toads, and that most dis-
gusting of all disgusting lizards, the tokay. The tokay is peculiar
to Bangkok, and at certain seasons of the year appears in swarms

72 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

larger than the ordinary run of lizards and bloodsuckers. In
shape it somewhat resembles an alligator (though of course much
smaller), and has a leprous-coloured skin, and a cry as sudden
as it is excessively disagreeable. Never shall I forget the
sudden start I experienced on first hearing the tokay. I was
fast asleep, and the hour somewhere about midnight, when, to
my astonishment, I awoke with the repeated cry of "Tokay !
tokay ! tokay ! " proceeding evidently from no great distance
above my head, and apparently within the mosquito gauze cur-
tains. All in the dark, both as to the cause of the sound, and
from the fact of the candle being out, I tumbled out of bed as
speedily as I could, and after some search for a match, having
succeeded in striking a light, I saw, with astounded eyes, the
most unwelcome partner of my bed quietly reclining against one
of the bed-posts, and certainly not more than a foot above my
pillow. I could hardly believe my eyes. I had travelled over
many parts of India where all kinds of creeping things .prevail,
but never had I set eyes on such a vile thing as this was. I
shuddered again, as the thought flashed across my mind that in
all probability it had crept right over me to get to where it then
was. I soon awoke my friend, Mr. Hayes, a young partner of
Mr. Hunter's, who was sleeping in the next room to mine, and
instead of getting any consolation from him, was greatly
laughed at for my excessive trepidation, with the quiet
assurance that such things were an every-day occurrence ; and
so in the sequel I found they were ; though no boarding-school
mistress ever inspected the tables and cupboards in the bed-
rooms in more fear and trembling of finding that most dreadful
animal, a man, than I used to search for these tokays of a night ;
and many and many a time have I had a skirmish with them,
before being enabled to clear the room. They possessed such
wonderful elasticity, that they would jump from one wall up
which they were climbing, to nearly a distance of a couple of
yards ; for which reason I always kept at a respectful distance,

SEKPENTS AND BIRDS. 73

and armed myself with the longest sticks I could procure.
They are said not to be venomous, nevertheless I liked not their
looks. Snakes were also very plentiful in Mr. Hunter's house,
and, with the exception of the really pretty green snake, so
common at Madras, were principally of an amphibious kind. It
was no pleasant sensation to me at first to be so frequently
brought in contact with these creatures. Fancy, looking out of
bed in the morning, and, from some hole in the corner (for
the chunnaming, or lining, of Mr. H.'s house had not been very
skilfully effected), seeing the head of a serpent peeping out, and
not knowing whether to jump out of bed and take flight, or
remain and stare him back into his retreat again. It is cer-
tainly astonishing how custom makes one become callous to
these sort of things, and look upon them as matter of course,
and almost an agreeable pastime which you feel sorry to miss.
One thing certainly added to bring about this kind of feeling,
and that was, never hearing of a single accident occurring from
the stings or bites of these reptiles. But the reverse of this may
be said as regards the Madras Presidency, for there the famed
cobra de capello spreads terror around, and the no less
venomous carpet-snake has also to be sadly dreaded. Not a
few instances occur of unfortunate palanquin-bearers having
died in the course of a few hours, from having inadvertently set
foot upon a snake.

It is singular to see, in the gardens on the banks of the
Menam, a few hours higher up than the city itself, the immense
variety of birds that are carolling and chattering noisily away.
Large flights of parroquets are screaming over head, and the fine
large blue mountain pigeon is cooing to his timid mate. These
gardens are seldom visited during the great heat of the day, as
the people keep within doors, and are generally enjoying a
siesta. Occasionally, however, we used to make up a little
party, to take tiffin under the shade of some lofty mango-tree,
seated under which we sometimes got a shot or two at stray

74 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

pigeons and parrots, both, of which mixed in a pie, form a dish to
be by no means sneered at.

For the profuseness and fineness of its fruits few places can
rival Siarn. The mango, the jack-fruit, and the durian, are
most abundant ; but as for the last mentioned, few strangers
would relish the idea of either smelling or tasting it. The
jack-fruit is, I think, excellent when mixed with salt and water,
and the kernels or seed, of which it is very full, are very
good when roasted, and resemble much in flavour our European
chesnut.

Bangkok is in a great measure free from many of those fatal
and lingering complaints to which the European community of
the three presidencies of India are subject. I never knew a
single instance of that torturing malady, the liver complaint,
that scourge to which thousands of our countrymen have fallen
victims, partly from their own negligence with regard to diet
and abstemiousness in drink, and partly attributable to the
excessive heats to which they are exposed in the various up-
country stations. Kamptee, Cuddapeh, Massulipatam, and
some other similar cantonments, contain in their graveyards
fearful records of the havoc that has been, and is being,
committed annually by this lingering, but in most cases too
surely destructive, disease ; and there is hardly a family in
England that has had two or three members at any of the afore-
mentioned and other stations but what has to deplore the prema-
ture death of one or more. In Bangkok the heat is never of long
continuance, and those unwholesome and most disagreeable land
breezes, called at Madras, the long-shore winds, are here altogether
unknown. Again, the natives are quite uninitiated in the art of
curry-making ; their food, though seasoned with spices and hot
condiments, does not possess one-hundredth part of the hot fiery
substance and biliously rich gravies used in the concoction of an
Indian curry. The Siamese and the Chinese residing in Siam are
remarkably fond of soup, or, more properly speaking, a species

DISEASES OF THE COUNTRY. 75

of porridge, in which, though the main ingredient be pork, vast
quantities of vegetables are used, and mint and black pepper-
corns in a measure counteract the bilious effects of the, in other
respects, rather greasy soup. Very few of the natives are
addicted to strong drink, their chief beverages consisting of
tea, the sweet toddy fresh from the cocoa-nut tree, and the
pure harmless water of the Menam. The fermented toddy
known in India as arrack is seldom or never seen, and such
amongst them as do drink confine themselves, if they be wealthy
men, to European wines and spirits that they can purchase from
vessels frequenting the port ; or if not possessing the means to
indulge in these luxuries, quaff that most baneful and least
desirably-flavoured spirit in the world, samshoe, a Chinese
invention, and which is distilled from rice, after the rice has
been permitted to foment in, generally speaking, vinegar and
water. This samshoe is sometimes flavoured with cinnamon and
sugar, and under this guise it assumes the name of a liquor.
Doctor B. assured me that its pernicious effects upon the human
system were more speedy and sure than a double amount of
pure brandy or rum would produce in a much greater space of
time. There are but few, however, as I before stated, that
indulge in these propensities, and to their systematic method of
life, as well as to the fact of Bangkok being daily visited during
certain hours by a most invigorating and healthful sea breeze,
may be traced the cause of the non-existence of the liver com-
plaint. Neither are fevers of a malignant character at all
prevalent. Isolated instances sometimes occur of people falling
victims to fevers very similar in their character to the typhus ;
but these may generally be traced to have originated out of the
town itself, and from the incautiousness of the patient in having
exposed himself to night miasmas, in the vicinity of unhealthy
jungles and marshy grounds.

Diseases of the eye, diarrhoea, and rheumatic fevers, are the
usual complaints in Bangkok. To the latter, many Europeans,

76 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

both sailors and missionaries, have succumbed. Mr. Hunter lost
his head clerk, Mr. Smith, of Paisley, a few months before my
arrival at Bangkok ; and Mr. Hayes, his partner, was only just
recovering from a very severe attack, that had confined him
to his bed for nearly twelve months. The tortures inflicted by
this malady are, I was informed, beyond description excruciating ;
and poor Smith, before he found release from all earthly
sufferings, was in such a state, that his groans and shrieks of
agony were of the most heart-rending description. Nor could he
suffer any one to approach within a yard of his bed, so painfully
sensitive had he become to the slightest touch or movement. I
must here, however, mention that at the period of Mr. Smith's
illness and death, Mr. Hunter and all his friends were living
in floating houses; and it is my steadfast belief, that had the
new house been built and ready for occupation, no such fatal
results would have ensued. The damp, unwholesome smell of
these floating houses, be they ever so well matted and carpeted ;
their close and continual proximity to the water, however strong
the bamboo raft, and in spite of all the care taken by means of
numerous windows and air holes to keep the rooms dry and
pure ; these must in the long run be most deleterious to
the health of the occupants, and I imagine that it simply
depends upon the natural constitution whether, sooner or
later, they experience the baneful effects of their aquatic
residences.

Judging from the appearance of such of the inhabitants of
Central Siam as chance or mercantile occupations brought to the
capital, as also of the natives dwelling in the inland villages,
not many miles distant from it, the climate of Siam must be
upon the whole very healthy. The natives are a fine, robust,
healthy looking set of men and women, and the fresh tinge of
health that circulates in their veins, and gives a crimson tint
to their half brass, half copper-coloured cheeks, detracts con-
siderably from the natural ugly formation of their features,

FEMALE BEAUTY.

and in some instances makes them appear almost handsome ;
but there everything goes by comparison. Doubtless, to the eyes
of an utter stranger, who had not been in the habit of staring at
a people without exception the ugliest in the known world,
through a series of months and years, these inland beauties
would have seemed perfect guys of ugliness. I have often found
this to be the case. Memory, however retentive, and however
well aided by pictures the most beautiful that the human imagi-
nation can conceive, and human art illustrate, gradually becomes
inert, and cannot exercise its powers of vivid recollection with
regard to face and features, as it can with regard to scenes and
incidents even the most trivial ; you can remember and that is
all, that some object of affection or admiration was something
very beautiful and fair to behold ; but as to tracing in this
mental retrospect one single feature as it then appeared to you,
or delineating one single curve in its sylph-like form, this soon
becomes an utter impossibility, unless the dried-up resources of
the fountain of memory be afresh supplied by the truthfulness
of a dream, and most marvellously correct are the phantoms
then conjured up. Faces long forgotten are at a moment, when
perhaps least thought of, revived with unmistakeable veracity,
but so faint an impression is left behind, that nearly all recol-
lection of it flies with our waking thoughts. This is the case
with those whose long absence from their native country makes
them almost incredulous in their own senses. I have seen
faces in Penang and Singapore that I thought must rival, if they
did not even surpass, those that we gaze upon in Regent street.
I have left Penang, and gone to the Malabar coast, and then,
when I saw some of the Malay ladies, why, I found that they
were prettier than those of the Eastern Archipelago and the
Straits of Malacca. And so on, in each country I have visited,
and always with the same result, viz., that so surely as I
returned to England and gazed upon our native belles, when I
saw that in addition to the most perfect symmetry of features,

78 EESIDEXCE IN SIAM.

there was tlie stamp of understanding upon their lovely faces,
that affection beamed in each eye, and warmth of feeling oozed
out from betwixt their rosy lips ; that education, and innocence,
and moral refinement, dwelt like a bright cloud of light refulgent
in their faces, then was I compelled to avow, as I now most
steadfastly do, that there is no country like Great Britain in
the world for beauty, wit, and wisdom. All this, however,
has very little to do with the climate of Siam ; so, after
begging pardon for this digression, I must e'en return to the
subject.

The climate, then, as I before stated, appears on the whole to
be healthy. The city of Bangkok, were its houses constructed
on the banks of the river, and not on the river itself ; were they
built of bricks, supported on a solid foundation, and not of wood,
supported by floating bamboos ; were they erected in wide,
commodious streets, with drainage to carry off everything
unwholesome into the river, instead of being huddled close
together, with only narrow little channels, just wide enough to
admit of the passage of a canoe, and so constructed as to form a
reservoir for all vegetable and other impure matter which gets
entangled under the rafts on their passage down the river ; then,
and under such favourable circumstances, Bangkok might vie
with any town in the East for its salubrity of climate, and the
beauty and convenience of its position. The glorious Menam would
then be unfettered from bank to bank, and would render rich
services in cleansing the place of its impurities, at the same time
that it afforded a larger space of anchorage for shipping, which
might be permitted to swing with the tide.

As in India, the two monsoons are pretty regular in their
appearance at Bangkok ; the precursor of their arrival is gene-
rally speaking excessively close, sultry weather gloomy withal ;
and this gloomy weather is as much appreciated in Siam as a
fine sunny day would be in the winter months in England. It is
such a treat, after being accustomed to the strong glare of a

DESCRIPTION OF MONSOON. 79

scorching sun, to see everything about you looking of a cool
colour, wearing a nice, gloomy kind of aspect, as though the sun
had put on blue spectacles, and was looking down mildly at us
from afar. No one ever dreams of remaining in the house on
these days, except such as are unable (God help them ! ) to quit
the couch of sickness. The bare idea of a siesta is scouted with
contempt, and the very crows leave their mid-day haunts amidst
the shady jungles, and resort to the open fields with joyous
cawing. There has not been a drop of rain for the last five
months, nor has a cloud obscured the sun during that long
interval. The parched earth is cracked and dried up ; vegetation
has almost entirely disappeared from the ground ; husbandmen
have long since laid by the plough and sickle, and the sugar-
planter begins to fear that the canes will all dry on their roots ;
for though irrigation is often resorted to, the ground is too dry
and thirsty to admit of its doing much benefit to the sickly-
looking, half-faded plants. At length, the long-looked-for
monsoon arrives, his harbingers being gloomy days, and dark,
threatening clouds, mounting high up one upon another ; there
is an occasional growl of far-off thunder, and now and then a
distant flash of sheet lightning. Men and boys are now seen
busily engaged on the thatched roofs of the different floating-
houses, pulling out handfulls here putting in fresh palm-leaves
there laying heavy stones and other weights along the edges,
and on the top of the roof, and getting everything in order to
withstand the first outburst of the fast approaching monsoon.
As for the women, they have no rest, nor do they wish for any,
till everything is snugly housed inside. There are large jars of
pickles, and vinegar, and preserves, and innumerable other
articles, that have been exposed to the sun for the last fortnight ;
all these must be carried in before nightfall, to say nothing to
sundry mats on which onions, and garlic, and pepper, and salt,
and cunning spices, have been exposed for a fortnight's airing ;
these, too, must be put into jars and other receptacles, and when

80 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

all this is done, and everything is out of harm's way, then there
is a long line of baby-linen, or rather, infantine rags, which has
to be taken in before they get wet again ; and these, and other
little incidental jobs, having been completed, the good woman sits
at the door of her cabin, smoking a quiet cigaret, and wishing
that the storm would commence, just to cool the air a little, as
she has nothing to dread from its wind or rain.

Meanwhile the river presents a very busy scene also : men
on board vessels of all nations and sizes are busily engaged
preparing for the conflict moorings are inspected addi-
tional anchors dropped cables veered out hatchways and
tarpaulins put on ; and, while the Chinese skippers think
they will be far more comfortable and safe on shore, and
accordingly land, leaving their vessels to the care of a
boy, bluff English shipmasters, urged by a contrary in-
clination, get themselves rowed along-side as fast as they
can, and having ensconced themselves in rough pilot coats and
impervious sou'-westers, walk the poop in all the dignity of
station, with a short clay-pipe stuck in their mouths, and their
hands plunged deep in the recesses of their pockets. Occasionally
they lean over the bulwarks and take a long, steadfast gaze at
the approaching tempest, and, having made a mental calculation
of its strength and duration, and the probable time it will take
in reaching the vessels, walk over to that end of the ship which
is nearest to Mr. H.'s house, and with both hands up to their
mouths raise a gentle warning kind of a bellow to the effect that
" Itfs a-coming" At last it does come ; we hear the voice of the
wind long before it reaches : all the doors and windows on this
side of the house have been firmly secured, and, to prevent acci-
dents, heavy chests of drawers, and other weighty substances,
have been placed against them, for should any one of them be
burst open, it ( would be a moral impossibility to shut it again
before the fury of the storm abated. Everybody is on the look
out, having a back entrance open by which to retreat, should the

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONSOON. 8L

gusts of wind be overpowering. There's a tremendous rustling
amongst the cocoa-nut and mango trees on the other side of the
river ; leaves and little twigs of trees are seen flying high up in
the air ; in another second, the vessels are all lying over on
their sides as if they never meant to right again they swing
violently round to the breeze, and, in so doing, the tempest bursts
right over head, and rain, wind, lightning, thunder all seem
combined on destruction and devastation. The squall lasts
sometimes an hour, sometimes more, and then there is a little
respite. The a,ir becomes most deliciously cool, and the sweet
exhalations from the grateful earth are delightful beyond de-
scription. There is a freshness in all nature, and the heart
swells with joy and gratitude towards that Great Beneficent
Being, who has looked down and remembered His creatures upon
earth. Such is the commencement of the monsoon. The lull
between the first squall and the regular set in of the season is
of some hours' duration, and during this lull the weather is ex-
tremely invigorating. Myriads of frogs are now heard croaking
from their damp retreat, ducks become quite a nuisance, and
large flocks of wild water-fowl, of every imaginable description,
are flying overhead at all hours, taking an inland direction,
where the lakes and the tanks will be soon full to overflowing,
and which will afford shelter and food for them for several
weeks to come. Night closes in sooner than usual to the music
of distant thunder, the air is cool and refreshing, and sleep, such
as has been a stranger to the eyes for many nights past, now
blesses the repose of the slumberer. You awake about midnight,
and hug your pillow closer to your cheek as you listen to the
roaring of the tempest without, and the rain that is falling too
in torrents, happy to find yourself snug in-doors and unexposed
to the fury of the gales. Sleep soon steals over one again, and
the next morning you rise quite a different man to what you
have felt for many months past. Kain, rain, rain, no stop to
rain night and day day and night, no cessation whatever ;

G

8*2 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

and this kind of work continues for eight or ten days. Look out
of the window, there is nothing but puddles ; look out of the
door, and you behold that most wretched looking of all the fea-
thered tribe in wet weather a cock ; he has hardly heart left
in him to crow, and seems to regard the weather as a very
serious affair indeed, and a great interruption to his dung-hill
enjoyments. There is no amusement in-doors but reading
books and musty old newspapers, or writing dull letters to
friends at a distance. Occasionally we amused ourselves at Mr.
Hunter's by playing Lagrace, and we were once pr twice guilty
of a game at ring-taw, the marbles being our own manufacture
out of sealing-wax. Night, however, brought with it its en-
livening candle lights. The darker and more stormy the night,
the more brilliantly illuminated the rooms used to be ; and if
the weather was particularly damp, we made ourselves com-
fortable with a good dinner and some fine old sherry, and then,
as a wind-up, just a leetle drop of hot whiskey toddy to make,
what is vulgarly termed " a night cap." After the first heavy
rains of the monsoons at Bangkok, sickness generally prevails to
a greater or less extent, and if the rains have been of unusually
long duration, cholera, that scourge of the East, makes its
appearance. Those struck by this most fatal disorder generally
succumb within the course of a few hours ; for rare, indeed, are
the instances on record of a native having been effectually cured :
sometimes they rally, and appear to all intents and purposes
cured, but in these cases the debility of the patient is so great
that he seldom recovers entirely. In 1841, the cholera, in its
most alarming form, that called the spasmodic, broke out in the
city of Bangkok, and before noon the next day after its first
appearance, upwards of a thousand inhabitants men, women,
and children were numbered with the dead. Such was the
virulence of the disease on the second and third days, that
relatives and connexions fled from the house infested, leaving the
unfortunate victim to perish in all the horrors of solitude and

RAVAGES OF CHOLEEA. 83

unquenchable thirsts, and the priests, much against their will
(although the more hardy of them laid their hands upon such
booty as they found in the houses of the dead), were compelled to
fly from house to house with the ostensible motive of succouring
the sick and throwing the dead into- the river, with weights
attached to them, so as to prevent their bodies coming to the
surface again before they had been floated far out to sea ; for
>any rites of sepulture were quite out of the question, when the
dead were being numbered by thousands, and neither affection,
promises, nor threats could induce any man to approach the
house of sickness, much less to handle or carry the stricken
corpse.

It was on this occasion that the French Catholic missionaries
then resident at Bangkok so much distinguished themselves for
their charity and courageous Christian conduct. They had no
motives but the purest to induce them to occupy themselves
from morning till night, and sometimes even during the whole
night, in succouring the sick and dying. Armed with such
remedies as they thought most conducive to avert the fatal
results of so direful a disease, they plied from house to house
endeavouring to heal the suffering body, and to pour comfort
and calm into those troubled souls that were so speedily sum-
moned into eternity. To deny that we ourselves did not share
in the general panic that reigned around us, would be equivalent
to an untruth. It was perhaps true that we possessed more
moral courage, and more resignation to the decrees of Providence
than our less enlightened neighbours the Siamese, but it was a
fearful thing to see the destruction that raged around us ; the
blank desolation of many of the houses whose inmates we had
been familiar with, and from whence the voice of mirth and
merriment had oftentimes resounded. And it was appalling to
hear the death-wail wafted over the water as ever and anon this
sad signal gave notice that the messenger of death had crossed
another threshold.

G 2

84 KESIDENCE IX SIAM.

One grand point to be observed during the cholera is, first
cleanliness of the house and of the person ; and, secondly, strict
attention to confine oneself to good wholesome food properly
cooked, and to eschew both vegetables and fruit. I have been
more than once in towns where the cholera was committing
frightful depredations, and I, on each separate occasion, observed
that those who adhered to this regimen, were seldom or never
attacked. We, in Mr. Hunter's house, adopted the advice of the
French Catholic priests, which was to take the first thing on
awaking in the morning a small glass of raw Cognac of the best
quality procurable : the next thing to be done was to have break-
fast as soon as we were dressed, and none of the doors or windows
of the house were opened till the sun had attained a high eleva-
tion in the skies. Smoking was strongly recommended, and to
have braziers of well burnt charcoal fires in each room in the
house, into which, from time to time, a teaspoonful of ground
coffee, or a little sugar, was poured, emitting a pleasant aroma,
and effectually fumigating the rooms. The last thing on getting
into bed, every soul in the house, servants included, was com-
pelled to swallow a hot glass of brandy and water, and then to
cover himself over till a violent perspiration burst forth from
every pore. This was a species of physicking (I allude to the
eatables and drinkables) which would have been the reverse of
disagreeable had it not been for the peculiar situation in which
we were placed, and which admitted not of a moment's peace of
mind or enjoyment. In this state matters continued for nearly
a week when the cholera disappeared as suddenly as it had come,
leaving the city of Bangkok minus about thirteen thousand of its
inhabitants, amongst whom were numbered a few strangers,
principally Americans, who, having taken the pledge of total
abstinence, could by no argument be induced to adopt the sanitary
regulations recommended by the worthy French priests. That
the people died in such numbers was as much their own fault as
it was their misfortune ; unripe fruit, and cucumbers, fish, and

VEGETABLE PEODUCTIONS. 85

every species of vegetable, were by them devoured with as much
avidity as though no such a thing as the cholera ever existed ;
and what did them more harm than anything else was the
detestable laziness of the women, who, to save themselves the
trouble of having to cook twice a day, boiled one immense pot
of rice at noon, and what remained of this rice, after pouring some
water upon it, was kept for the next morning's breakfast ; when,
cold and turned perfectly sour, it was discussed with, may be,
a bit of cocoa-nut and a red chilly, or else a salad of green
mangoes, vinegar, and onions.

On the whole, I am inclined to think that the climate of Siam
is a salubrious climate, and that with due regard to the construc-
tion of the houses, the cleanliness of the streets, and proper
attention to the food and clothing of the people, it might vie
with the wealthiest towns in India, though this is alas ! saying but
little for it. For my own part, I would as soon be sent there as
to any part of India, if inclined or necessitated to go to India at
all ; the only preference that I could have in the whole Eastern
hemisphere being that little paradise upon earth, Pulo Penang,
where many of the happiest days of my youth were spent with
friends the most sincere I have met with in life.

Siam produces many very excellent vegetables for kitchen
use. Amongst these the yams and sweet potatoes are abundant,
and of a very fine quality. There is also the moringa, a vegetable
tree, the seed pods of which, when green, are commonly used
with stewed meats, and in India in curries ; then there is the
bandicoy or bamiah, the brinjal or badingau, the pepincoy, the
snake vegetable, wild spinnach, several different qualities of beans,
and, of course, onions and garlic ; beyond computation Bangkok
is the first place where I ever tasted green garlic in pickles,
and I must candidly confess that though long journeyings
have made me accustomed to the flavour of this nauseous root
when used in small quantities, I liked not the pickled green
garlic at all, and the natives were astonished at my bad taste,

86 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Ginger grows abundantly in the neighbourhood of Bangkok,
and the natives are as skilled in making preserved and candied
ginger as the Chinese themselves. There are many other Ijttle
conserves and preserves in which the Siamese equally excel,
such as the rose leaf, the lime blossom, and the candied lime
and citron, but these latter are brought to Bangkok from towns
in the interior, which it was never my good luck to visit, my
rambles having been confined to within a few miles of the
capital itself and in exploring the shores and islands on both
sides of the gulf called Cambogia.

I heard that the tea plant was being successfully cultivated at
a place some sixty miles distant from Yuthia, but for the truth
of this assertion I cannot vouch, as I never saw any samples
exhibited at Bangkok, and I never could induce the other
Europeans to make up a party to explore the interior, which
was, during my stay, in rather a troubled state, owing to the
taxes levied upon the villages and towns having rather exceeded
in amount what they had been heretofore accustomed to pay.

TEA PLANT.

THE PRINCE CHOU-FAA.

87

CHAPTEE VI.

The Prince Chou-Faa. His friendship for the English. His desire for knowledge.
Drill of his artillery soldiers. Terrible effect of a man-of war's salute. The
Prince's skill in making and repairing watches. His melancholy and its causes.
His wives and children. Account of a carouse at his palace on Christmas day,
1840. Siamese game of hattledoor and shuttlecock. Chinese theatrical per-
formance. Sketch of the drama. The Christmas dinner. Visits to the temples
of the White Elephants. Description of the watts. The two elephants.

HE most singular inhabitant of Siam,
and one laying claim to the highest
praise, is Prince Chou-Faa. Born
under the most inauspicious star, and
subject to the jealous eye of the King,
his every action watched and re-
ported at court, yet he has contrived
to find time and opportunity to culti-
vate his naturally clever mind, till
he shines forth a perfect wonder of
education and intellectual attainments.
He was always kindly disposed towards
foreigners, but especially towards the English,
and sought to cultivate the friendship of Mr.
Hunter, who reciprocated it most cordially.
From Mr. Hunter the Prince first acquired some
slight knowledge of the English language, and through his aid
procured such elementary books as laid the foundation of his
educational course ; his ardent love of study made him devour
the contents of these volumes with the greatest avidity, and, not

88 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

contented with limiting himself to a simple course of instruction,
he procured books of mathematics and fortification, puzzled his
brains with gunnery, the art of casting guns and cannons ; and
eventually, after a wonderful struggle against the many diffi-
culties that surrounded him amongst which not the least was the
want of efficient masters, and, indeed, oftentimes any masters at
all emerged from the shell of a rough, unpolished Siamese,
into what he was when I was in Siam an indubitably clever
scholar, and a perfect gentleman.

His thirst for literature was then greater than ever ; all the
latest publications he, by means of agents, procured from
Singapore, and I have seen him laugh as heartily over Dickens's
" Pickwick," as though he had been accustomed to the scenes
that book depicts from his earliest youth ; but he frittered not
his whole time away in the pursuit of any single occupation
his time was allotted into different portions. The first occu-
pation of a morning was drilling his small band of artillery
soldiers. The ground allotted for this practice was just beyond
the walls of his castle, a level piece of ground running parallel
with the banks of the river, on which his Majesty, the King,
had caused some pieces of cannon to be placed, as a wise
precaution to guard himself from the invasion of foes by water,
quite forgetting the fact of his own palace, on the opposite side
of the banks, being just situated in a position to be blown into
atoms at the first fire. Of course the manoeuvres gone through
by the Prince's men were entirely harmless, as even blank
powder was never used, lest the report should shake the nerves
of his Majesty's fifteen hundred wives, and ruffle his own by no
means sweetest of dispositions.

A very ludicrous incident of this description occurred whilst I
was at Bangkok. The " Sir Walter Scott," one of his Siamese
Majesty's sloops of war, happened then to be commanded by a
rather hair- brained Irishman. Eeturning once from a cruise off
the west coast of Cambogia, and sailing majestically up the river,
wind and tide in favour, towards her moorings off the palace,

EFFECTS OF A MAN-OF-WAB's SALUTE.

89

and passing Mr. Hunter's house, where the British flag was
proudly waving, the day being Sunday, she hove back her sails
all of a sudden, and fired a salute of twenty-one guns ; this
happened at about one p.m., when most of the inhabitants are
generally taking a siesta. The effect was most electrical, before
the echo of the last gun had subsided, the river was thickly
dotted with canoes, flying in all directions, and running into each

ESPLANADE AT PRINCE CHOU-FAA'S PALACE.

other, and causing a hundred other mishaps in their confusion.
As for the old King, his fear only exceeded his rage ; it was
with the greatest difficulty he was prevented from inflicting a

very summary vengeance on Captain M , viz., that of having

him sent out of the kingdom at a minute's warning. Mr. Hunter,
however, who was one of the peers of the realm, succeeded in
assuaging his wrath.

But to return to the Prince Chou-Faa : he regularly every
morning went through this mimic exercise, and really, to do him
credit, with amazing precision. After drill, his little squad
marched, with himself at the head of them, back to the barracks,

90 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

which were built within the precincts of the little white-washed
fortress that surrounded his palace. A halt was called, and the
soldiers divesting themselves of their uniform, and clad in a
decidedly light costume, resumed the line of march to that part
where the Prince had constructed a little armoury, a perfect
little bijou of a place, so neat and cleanly kept, that the muskets
and sabres which were therein fantastically arranged, glittered
again and dazzled one's eyes with their brightness, as the
morning sun shone in upon them through the open windows.
All these were brought out and duly scoured ; but such was the
punctuality of this operation, that the men had but little fatigue,
in removing whatever stray atoms of dust might have collected
upon them. This completed their morning's work, and they were
dismissed to their respective apartments, or to return to their
floating homes if they chose till the next morning. The Prince
had some favourites that had picked up a little splattering ot
English, and assisted him in his more scientific amusements.
Opposite the armoury, and just on the very threshold of his
palace, was a very pretty little frame-house, surrounded with
glass windows, and over the entrance-door to which was placed a
board with the inscription of " Watches and Clocks made and
repaired here," written in large letters of gold, and here
would he be seen, seated at a table that was liberally
bestrewed with fragments and little mites of wheels, pursuing
his favourite occupation of watchmaker. It was a strange sight
in such an out-of-the-way place as Bangkok, and amongst such
a set of uncouth beings as the Siamese, to come suddenly
upon the strange figure the Prince presented with a pair of
huge goggles protruding from his eyes, and surrounded by a
group of inquisitive and inquiring favourites. Watch-making
and repairing were generally over about the time that the King's
trumpet gave notice that he had had breakfast, and then the
Prince retired to the harem, to partake of that pleasant meal
also. But he was a frugal man, and was never long seated at
meals, except upon such occasions as he had any Europeans to

HABITS OF PRINCE CHOU-FAA. 91

dine with him, and then he adopted the English fashion of sitting
long at table.

Prince Chou-Faa would generally spend an hour or more in
his library, which was well and even handsomely fitted up, and
contained some valuable books on various topics of literature
and science ; and of an evening a little exercise, either on horse-
back or a row up the river, to inhale the fresh and invigorating
evening breeze never more precious, or which none can better
enjoy than those subjected to the relaxing heats of an Indian
clime. Night closed in, and the Prince, in his brilliantly lighted
palace, partook of tea and bread and butter, " a VAnglaise" and
billiards, cards, or bagatelle filled up the vacuum between tea-
time and ten o'clock, the hour at which Chou-Faa invariably
retired for the night. Occasionally, an,d especially if any
Europeans were passing the evening with him, the Prince gave
us a tune on the flute, for amongst his really manifold accom-
plishments he was a good musician, and I have heard him
execute " De con Fe" with variations, in a style to be by no
means sneered at.

One might imagine that surrounded as Chou-Faa was with all
the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life, he must have been
a happy and contented man; but those who knew him and
watched his oft contracted brow could tell a very different tale.
There was a slumbering sorrow there that would ever and anon
burst forth like to some troubled dream, and spread a gloom over
his usually smiling countenance. He evidently strove often and
hard to overcome the theme that haunted him through day, and
week, and month, and year ; but it burst forth amidst his
happiest and most joyous moments, and he felt that, notwith-
standing all the gaudy tinsel that surrounded him, he was de facto
a state prisoner, watched and guarded by the hateful eye of
jealousy, and never for two consecutive moments certain of what
fate the capricious temperament of the King might doom him to.
The doctor who, by the King's commands, was dancing perpetual
attendance at the Prince's heels, and who insisted on the Prince

92 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

swallowing an allotted allowance of medicine monthly, was an
all-sufficient drawback to his highness's happiness, and had he
not possessed that humane, gentle disposition for which he was
ever distinguished, I imagine this bugbear of a doctor would
have had to swallow all his own medicine, in addition to something,
perhaps, not quite so harmless.

The Prince Chou-Faa was an exceedingly good husband and
father : his favourite princess, and one or two of the others, often
in the sacred precincts of the harem, sat down to meals and ate
with him a fact unprecedented in the kalends of Siamese
domestic economy. His eldest son, whom he had christened,
or at least called, Prince George, he was bringing up under
the iron rod of control, and I have little doubt that (if he be
alive) he has now . grown up to be a fine, well-educated
young man. Chou-Faa on several occasions admitted us to
his harem, and two of his favourite wives used to converse
with us fluently in English. They could, however, neither read
nor write.

On Christmas-day, 1840, the Prince Chou-Faa invited all the
Europeans then residing at Bangkok to spend the day at his
palace, and wind up with a grand Christmas dinner, to be served
at precisely 4 p.m. This invitation included the officers and
mates of all the merchant vessels then in the river, and the
American and French missionaries : these latter, however,
declined the invitation, and it was well they did so, for of all the
carousals I ever witnessed (and one sees rare specimens of these
at some of the military messes in India), I never saw one to
surpass that at Bangkok. The party began arriving at the
palace at about 10 a.m., and by eleven we were all assembled.
There happened to be two English vessels in the river at the
time, and three Bombay traders, and these, in addition to the
Siamese men-of-war, furnished a pretty decent number of
Englishmen. I think we sat down to dinner somewhat about
thirty in number. Amongst the crews of the English vessels we
mustered a couple of fiddlers, a hautboy, a flute, a fife, and a

CHRISTMAS IN SIAM. 93

drummer, and, with this magnificent band, commenced the
business of the day with the British National Anthem. Every-
body joined in chorus, and though the music was execrable, and
the singing alarmingly out of time, we got through it on the
whole remarkably well. The ladies, or rather princesses, had a
place partitioned off, through which, by aid of eyelet holes, they
were spectators of this, to them so novel a spectacle ; and it was
worth a good deal to see the cats in the palace, tearing about, tail
up in the air, as the first burst of our discordant orchestra fell
like a thunder-peal on their astonished and alarmed ears. Jigs,
reels, country-dances, and Highland flings were all executed to
admiration, and several who could not dance a reel in the
morning were seen reeling at a later period of the day. At
about one o'clock we had a glorious spread in the shape of a
dejeuner a, la fourchette, laid out in the court-yard under the cool
shade of apandal, a species of temporary balcony consisting of a
lot of dried grass introduced between a trellis-work of split
bamboos, and elevated over head by means of posts driven into
the ground, to the tops of which the four corners are fastened.
Champagne ad libitum was poured down our throats, and
though it was not /rappee it was deliciously cool, from the process
adopted in India of standing the bottles in saltpetre and salt
and water. After breakfast we amused ourselves as best we
could, and even resorted to leap-frog for want of a better amuse-
ment : the occasional bungling clumsiness of some less skilful
jumper, who would topple himself and his "back" over, was
a source of great mirth to the Prince and the other native
spectators, to whom the game was a perfect novelty, and the
ill-suppressed titterings behind the screen plainly evinced
that the ladies were enjoying the fun as much as any of
us. Our resources at length failing us, and fatigued, and
weary, we sat down upon the sofas placed around, and then
the Prince called upon some of his own people to put their
skill to the test, and keep the ball going, and what think ye
was the first game they had ? Battledoor and shuttlecock !

94 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

but played in such a scientific and skilful way as only the
Siamese can.

About thirty young men stood in a circle ; the shuttlecock
was exactly such an one as we have in England, but the
battledoor was the sole of the foot ! I never witnessed such
remarkable agility in my life as was displayed by these lads ;
one threw the shuttlecock to some one opposite, the young man
near whom it would threaten to alight instantly prepared
himself to receive it, and wheeling sharply round, would kick his
right leg up so scientifically and correctly, that the shuttlecock
would just alight on the centre of the sole of his foot, and
rebound with amazing elasticity, being caught by the next
person it approached in precisely the same style, and in this
method I have seen the game kept up for nearly a space of ten
minutes without the shuttlecock once falling to the ground. I
once attempted to imitate the young Siamese in their method ol
playing this game, but failed signally in the attempt, though I
nearly succeeded in putting my ankle out of joint. After this
there was a good deal of wrestling and gymnastics, and then we
had a Siamese dance, resembling much in its uncouth gestures
the savage war dance of the South Sea Islanders. This was
succeeded by a sham boxing match between two English tars,
but the Prince had been so liberal in supplying these worthies with
poteen, that they soon forgot the sham part of the business, and
set to work in right good earnest, tooth and nail ; and it required
our conjoint efforts to separate the combatants. The amusements
of the day concluded with a Chinese theatrical performance,
a perfect novelty to many of the European spectators present.
The theatre had been temporarily erected, and there was no
scenery except the drop scene. In the centre of the stage there
was a circular tent, or rather the tent walls without the top
part, or any other covering. This was supposed to represent
some unknown fortress in some unheard-of land, the gates of
which were facing the audience. In the distance behind this
fortress were seen approaching some twenty painted and armed

CHINESE PLAY. 95

uncouth-looking warriors ; these were meant to represent a
besieging army, and inside the fortress were the unhappy besieged
inhabitants, as yet invisible to us ; but as a matter of course
undergoing all the frightful privations of a long siege ; at a given
signal the attack commenced ; the shouting of the approaching
army, and the beating of gongs was awful in the extreme ; it was
enough to break the tympanum of the ears, and instinct led us
simultaneously to cram our fingers into those tender orifices for
fear of a disastrous result. At length amidst this most unearthly
riot, out rushed the poor starved garrison, consisting of a very
old man with a long white woolly beard, who, in a bundle
suspended to a stick over his shoulders supposed to contain very-
costly treasures, was bolting from the town, ere the besiegers
should force an entrance ; then came a very old woman with
some pots and pans, then a young man with a musket, and a
young girl with a basket, and then some half-dozen children
with nothing particular but their ragged clothing, and of this in
all conscience they possessed little enough. These constituted
the undauntable garrison of that invincible citadel now about to
be ransacked by the ruthless besiegers. The besieged fled panic-
struck in every direction, the citadel was carried by main force,
and the enemy's army having gained possession, carried off the
walls victoriously on their shoulders a very delightful, though
rather unusual method of disposing of a stronghold, and one
which it would require an army of Atlases to perform. The
curtain dropped amidst a very whirlwind of applause, and
shouting ; and this was the first Chinese play I ever witnessed,
and certainly the last I should ever wish to see, for me-
thinks a continuation of such noises for a succession of nights
would render one unfit for anything but Hanwell, Bedlam
always excepted.

Dinner was now announced, and we were introduced into an
apartment which none of us had ever before witnessed, and
which surpassed in splendour our utmost expectations ; it was
an elegantly tapestried room, lighted by three costly chandeliers :

96 EESIDENCE IN S1AM.

on the sideboard, which was almost entirely of ivory, stood
several massive and chastely wrought gold and silver vases,
evidently of Chinese origin, and the centre was occupied by
a clock representing a crystal fountain, whose waters were
continually set in motion by the working of the machinery of
the clock. Against the walls were suspended some very chaste
oil-coloured views : two in particular invited our admiration ;
they were called twilight and dawn, and for mellowness of tint
and softness of outline, I have seldom seen them rivalled. The
long mahogany table covered with a snow-white damask cloth,
was literally groaning under the rich display of plate and glass
ware, and when the covers were removed, the savoury incense
that steamed up from them made our appetites remember that
we had not yet dined. A very desirable state of affairs, provided
such a princely meal were always at one's command. It was,
indeed, a sumptuous repast ! Most sumptuous. There were
divers very excellent soups to commence with, and then came
turkeys, and geese, and ducks, and fowls, and roast sucking
pigs, and many other incentives to appetite, setting aside that
best of all Indian luxuries, prawn and rabbit curries ; and we
looked upon these and partook of them, and sighed to think that
there was such a thing as to-morrow in the question, with its
accompanying headaches and indigestions, and that terrible
drawback to enjoyment to wit the cholera. N'importe, we had
good wines, aye, the best of old crusty wines, to wash down the
good things and assist digestion, so I sang to myself like the
famed Edgardo in the Borgia

" Non curiamo lincerto domani,
Si quest oggi ci dato go' dare."

I believe every one present thought like myself, even the Prince
included, for we made sad havoc amongst those viands, and as
for the wines, the port, the golden sherry, the sparkling
burgundy, it would have been an insult to one's arithmetic, to
have counted the empty bottles after the dinner was fairly done.

CHRISTMAS PARTY. 97

The cloth was removed, the fruits and sweets produced, and
toasting commenced. Mr. Hunter proposed "the King of
Siam," which was responded to with three times three. The
Prince returned thanks, and, in a very neat speech, gave " The
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland," &c. ; then he rose again to
propose " The Queen of Portugal," and the Portuguese Consul
gave " The Prince " himself ; and the enthusiasm with which
this toast was received must have been very gratifying to his
feelings, knowing, as he well knew, how universally he was
respected and esteemed by the Europeans then at Siam. After
this, there was some more toasting, and any quantity of Maras-
chino and other liqueurs, and then some of the bolder volunteered
a song, the Prince, with evident glee, joining in the interminable
toroloral choruses.

Chou-Faa, who was then about thirty-eight years of age, and
wore on that occasion a full-dress naval uniform with epaulettes,
and buttons on which an elephant figured in lieu of the crown,
is, or, at least, was, a rather handsome man for a Siamese, of
middle stature, dark complexion, and an extremely well and
strongly-built figure.

At this distant period, I still look back with delight to the
few pleasant hours of that Christmas spent in a Siamese capital,
at the hospitable table of a Siamese Prince, and it now appears,
as it then did to me, almost incredible to think that in the very
centre of almost savages, and in a land but little heard of or
known, there is to be found such an enlightened character as the
excellent Prince Chou-Faa.

The Prince sent us home at an early hour in his own state-
barge ; and when the cawings of the thievish crows awoke me
from my pillow next morning, the events of the preceding day
appeared like an imaginary phantom, conjured up by some spell
to puzzle and perplex one for the remainder of our pilgrimage
on earth.

Curiosity, assisted by a special permit, induced me once
during my sojourn at Bangkok, to visit those two most

H

98 RESIDENCE IN SJAM.

remarkable edifices in the whole empire of Siam the Watts or
Temples of the two White Elephants those most revered of all
the Siamese deities, and which, as the cross in the Christian and
the crescent in the Moslem, floats proudly for the Siamese in the
banner of their nation. An elephant is certainly more terribly
emblematical of the oppressive yoke of tyranny than anything

VIEW OF A WATT, OK TEMPLE.

that I know of ; at least, in my own humble opinion, I would
rather be trodden under foot by any other quadruped, were I
reduced to the miserable extremities of such an unenviable
choice.

The watts themselves were very fine buildings, replete with all
the gorgeous beauties of oriental architecture. The first or chief
watt, the residence of the largest of these two rare and beautiful
creatures, is situated on' the east bank of the river Meuani,

THE SACRED ELEPHANTS.

99

about half a mile from the shore, and in the centre of a garden,
deliriously scented with the tube-rose, the yellow honeysuckle,
and that rare specimen of the passion-flower, called by the
Siamese the " bisft-jlower" from its very great resemblance to a
bell. On either side of the watt were two huge Banian trees,
evidently of long growth, from the great number of shoots that
had taken firm root in the ground, and were now forming diffe-
rent and distinct branches of their own. Under these trees, a
whole posse of Siamese priests, clad in gamboge-dyed dresses,
were chaunting laudatory verses about the great white elephant,
and, with the exception of one malevolent glare at us as we
entered the highly-finished gates of the walls that enclosed the
gardens of the watts, they took no further notice of our pro-
ceedings, 'but allowed us to go round the garden unmolested,
picking such rich bouquets as would make the heart of a ball-
going young London lady palpitate again with joy and excite-
ment. After a lapse of about a quarter of an hour, which was
pleasantly enough spent in surveying the outside of the watt, its
thousand pretty pedestals, and as many indescribable and
singular little images, a venerable-looking old fellow, clad in a
most remarkably brilliant yellow surplice, who wore a smile of
satisfaction upon his face, which plainly indicated that he had
been well-fee'd by our attendant Cicerone, came forward and
offered to conduct us into the presence of White Elephant, the
senior. We closely followed our guide, and were admitted into
the presence of this noble animal. I have never before seen so
large an elephant ; his skin was as smooth and spotless and
white as the driven snow, with the exception of a large scarlet
rim round the eyes. The brute was too dignified and accustomed
to homage to pay the slightest attention to the intrusion of such
unpresuming visitors as ourselves, but went on calmly helping
himself to leaves and branches from the mighty piles that were
heaped up before him. The room itself was an unpresuming
one, exceedingly lofty, with windows all round the loftiest part ;
but the flooring was covered with a mat-work, wrought of pure

H 2

100 EESTDENCE IN SIAM.

chased gold, each interwoven seam being about half an inch wide,
and about the thickness of a half sovereign ! ! ! If this was not sin
to snakes, as the Yankees say, I don't know what was. The idea
of a great unwieldy brute, like the elephant, trampling under
foot and wearing out more gold in one year than many hard-
working people gain in ten ! And then the soiled mess that this
costly carpeting was in, in many parts, would have been suffi-
cient to cause a miser to go off instantly into a fit of insanity.
Several priests were busily engaged, in different parts of the room,
polishing up tarnished spots ; others, professionally goldsmiths,
were extracting the worn strips, and replacing them with new
ones, so heavy and so bright, that it made our eyes and mouths
water to see such infamous waste. Every one to his liking,
however. The sovereigns and potentates of Europe manage to
make millions slip through their fingers in the pursuits of the
pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and in indulging every
appetite that vicious nature can give birth to. The King of Siam
would doubtless do the same if he could ; but he can't, for this
simple reason, that so limited are the resources for gratification
and pleasure, and so cheaply obtainable these few, that his
Majesty, who does not spend much in wearing apparel, turns his
treasures into mats for his favourite doll or deity to tread upon.
The man who was so fortunate as to entrap this elephant, got
from the King of Siam a pension of one thousand tikols per
annum, which pension is hereditary ; besides this, he was raised
to a very high office in the kingdom, that of carrying water for
the elephant to slake his thirst with ; and the jars in which the
water is transported, and the trough from which this leviathan
drinks, are both more or less filagreed and worked with gold. The
elephants are the only dignitaries connected with the court
that are permitted to breakfast before his Majesty, and if they
don't get it early, they roar for it in a very appalling manner.
The elephant's trumpeting must certainly drown the feeble
cracked notes of the king's bugler. These creatures seldom or
never leave their cells except upon stated feast days, when they

THE SACRED ELEPHANTS. 101

head a procession that marches round their respective watt some
half-dozen times, and they are then re-led to their stately
couch.

The white elephant junior differed from the white elephant
senior considerably in size and appearance, and consequently
luxuriated in silver instead of gold. He was evidently the
younger son of a junior branch of the family, and was accordingly
neglected and ill-treated. Even the priests neglected to repair
the rents in his silver matting, which was fast going to pieces,
and if one might judge from the meagre and sickly look of the
poor animal, it was not likely to live long enough to tread upon
a new. The watt in which this poor brute was confined was
also insignificant in comparison with the other, and the garden,
though abounding with flowers, was evidently ill looked after
and neglected. This problem is easily solved by the fact, that
the king is in the daily habit of attending the other watt, and
his fifteen hundred wives supply themselves with bouquets
therefrom ; whereas this watt has never seen the stout shadow
of His Majesty since the first installation of the ill-conditioned
elephant.

102

RESIDENCE IX SI AM.

CHAPTEK VII.

t'hanti Boon. Its situation and buildings. Account of the attempt of a Chinese
Captain to run away with a richly laden Siamese Government trader. Mode of
conducting business at Chanti Boon. Adventure with the Siamese officer of
Customs. Monkeys and snakes. Description of the country. Siamese cookery.
The White Ant and the Cobra di Capello. Use of the ant hills by the latter.
Feeding of the Cobra by the natives. Tringano. Passage across Siamese
Gulf. Encounter with a whirlwind. Bardia. Champoon. Effect of a salute of
twenty-one guns. Collection of tribute from the Rajah. Return voyage.

HANTI Boon is beyond a doubt
situated in one of the wealthiest
provinces of Siam. Insignificant
in appearance and size, the only
buildings of note in the town con-
sist of a watt with a remarkably
elegant spire, and a huge go-
vernment magazine for the ware-
housing of the more valuable
products, which are bi-annually
shipped to Bangkok for sale and

exportation. In the intervals between the two monsoons,
Siamese ships of war and junks, with government super-
cargoes, are employed on this service, as the cargoes
are of too valuable a nature to be entrusted to the
Chinese or other traffickers. These could easily smuggle
portions of the ivory, gamboge, spices, &c., on board vessels
lying at anchor along the coast or off the bar of Siam, where
they could be readily and advantageously disposed of ; and

CHANT! BOON. 10">

should a Chinese junk once contain so valuable and costly a
freight, the chances are ten to one that she would take a directly
opposite direction to Bangkok, and proceed with all available
dispatch to Singapore or Canton, or for whichever port the wind
chanced to be favourable ; and the funds obtained by the
disposal of one single cargo would enable the runaways to be
independent for life, and quitting the sea, to enjoy their otiwm,
cum dig. in undisturbed tranquillity on shore. An instance of
this kind, I was informed, had occurred many years before my visit
to Siam, which, however, fortunately for the Siamese govern-
ment, had ended in the recapture of the fugitive junk, which was
reconducted to Bangkok, and there confiscated. The affair
happened thus. The Siamese government being anxious before
the setting in of the monsoon to clear the warehouse at Chanti
Boon of all the produce of that season, and being short of ships
of their own nation to import it into Bangkok, were compelled to
charter several small foreign vessels for this purpose, and amongst
others a Chinese junk, the owner and captain of which had been
for many years a regular trader to Bangkok, and who was
reported to be a most honest and upright man. Accordingly,
being duly arrived and anchored off the little island of Semsing,
at the mouth of the Chanti Boon river, a distance of about
twenty miles from the town, boats were despatched to bring off
the cargo, and the Chinaman was at work, morning, noon, and
night, endeavouring to be loaded as quickly as possible, so as to
be away before the coming monsoon. His cargo consisted
almost entirely of ivory, gamboge, and cardamums. The inde-
fatigable zeal of the captain so impressed the Siamese authorities
on board (of whom there were three) in his favour, that they
placed the most implicit confidence in his integrity ; and before
the vessel was entirely laden, quitted the irksome office of
keeping tally, to relax themselves by a walk, or a shooting party
on shore. The old captain was as punctual as clockwork in
handing over a correct list of what had been shipped each day to
the functionaries when they came on board of an evening ; and

304 RESIDENCE IN STAM.

as these latter were very regular in obtaining this information
from the shippers on shore before coming off, they found, on
comparing notes, that both sides perfectly agreed as to quantity,
&c. ; a state of affairs highly gratifying to their feelings, and
which led them to make to the fat old skipper many stout
promises of rewards and honours to be heaped upon him on their
safe return to Bangkok by their august master, His Majesty the
King of Siam. The Chinaman used to chuckle at these rewards
in perspective amazingly ; and finally, having laden a full and
complete cargo of costly materials, proposed to those high func-
tionaries that they should celebrate the occasion by a species
of jubilee, to be held on shore at the small and almost deserted
village of Paknam, near Chanti Boon.* Well, no sooner said
than done, the proposal was jumped at by the Siamese dignitaries,
and half-a-dozen ducks, a couple of fowls, and a pig fell victims
to their ambition for pleasure parties. It is needless to say that
that indispensable article of allpic-nics, spirits,weYe handed round
and partaken ad libitum, and of all vile potations, that vilest, called
samshoe a spirit distilled from rice, and which is more speedy
and certain in its destructive and intoxicating effects than all the
rum and brandy in the universe put together. Merrily the
bowl passed round, and the feast continued with unalloyed
enjoyment till nigh upon sunset. Then the effects of the merry-
making became distinctly visible from the decks of the junk,
where the sober and clear-headed crew, under instructions from
their captain, were attentively watching the issue of events.
Presently one man got up, and staggered, and fell against his
neighbour, rolling the latter over in his fall. These two were
settled for the night, nothing under a miracle could awaken
them to a sense of consciousness. The third and sole remaining
officer seeing the mishap, which was in all probability, in the

* It is strange that the first town on entering the Menam is also called Paknam,
and from this circumstance, and the word " Onam " meaning water, in Siamese, I am
led to suppose that the name must have some relative signification to the position of
the two villages.

CHINESE SEIZURE OF A JUNK. 105

then addled state of his brain, metamorphosed into a mighty
combat between countless warriors that were swimming around
him, shouted lustily for aid, and with one mighty effort leapt
to his feet only to feel his head seized with an overpowering
giddiness, which felled him to the earth as a butcher fells an
ox. This was the signal for activity on board the junk ; the
boat was lowered and manned ; the captain, who still retained
his senses (for he could drink any dozen ordinary men under
the table, or, more properly speaking in this instance, upon the
grass), was rowed safely on board, the land-wind set in as the
night closed round, the anchor was weighed, and over that dark
sea, with a favouring breeze, the junk sped rapidly on towards
not Bangkok, but Singapore ! What became of the three wretched
men who were left on that desolate island is more than I can
divine, not the slightest clue having been ever obtained as to
their fate. They dared not show themselves at Chanti Boon or
Bangkok, where their doom, they well knew, was a lingering
but certain death. As to the junk, it arrived safely at Singapore,
and things went on prosperously enough with the Chinaman
and his crew, till one morning, by some unlucky accident, 'a
Siamese cruiser came into the harbour, and the commander
recognising the vessel, went on board to claim acquaintance with
his old friend, the skipper, when, to his utter astonishment, he
found the decks strewed with produce, the loss of which had
been reported to him by a vessel he had encountered at sea
bound from Siam to China. The Chinese, conscious of their
guilt, though the Siamese captain made no allusion to the event,
wisely effected their escape to shore, so soon as darkness sheltered
them ; and not long after the commander of the Siamese ship
of war, accompanied by an armed force, boarded the junk, and
finding her entirely deserted, got his own ship under weigh, and
without resistance towed the junk out to sea ; then manning
her from picked men out of his own crew, the junk sailed in
convoy of the cruiser direct for Bangkok, where in due course
they arrived, to the infinite satisfaction of the Siamese monarch,

106 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

who liberally remunerated the officers and men of the lucky
cruiser.

From that date suspicion has ever been on the alert as regards
strangers of all nations, and now-a-days no freights are brought
from Chanti Boon except on board of a Siamese vessel of war,
and even then innumerable emissaries accompany the ships.
The Sir Walter Scott was sent on this mission when I was at
Bangkok, and I accompanied her more out of curiosity than
from any other motive. A fine fresh breeze came off the land
at about eight p.m., and we weighed and made all possible
Hail, keeping as near the land as safety would permit. The
water was smooth, and the moon shone brightly as we glided
swiftly but almost imperceptibly through the water. The
distance from the anchorage to Cape Liant is exactly sixty
miles, just one degree, and we were abreast of this Cape by
seven o'clock in the morning. By hugging close under the
shore, we kept a pretty stiff land-breeze with us all the
way ; and when the Cape was abaft the beam, we hauled
the vessel up, and took in her studding-sails, steering a
nearly due East course. The wind never failed us till
about noon, when we were nearly abreast of the island of
Koh Samet, an island twenty-five miles distant from Cape
Liant, and from which, to the anchorage off Semsing, at the
mouth of the river of Chanti Boon, there yet remained a distance
of forty-five miles to accomplish. The calm was intense, and
the heat stifling, whilst myriads of annoying flies and stinging
gnats came buzzing in idle circles round our heads. This state
of affairs continued till four o'clock, when the first puff of the
welcome sea breeze, that for more than an hour had been
tantalising us by rippling the cool-looking blue waves in the
distance beyond the Cape, came like a gentle angel, whispering
comfort to our parched and fevered frames. The yards were
soon braced round, and in half an hour's time we were once more
sporting merrily through the waves ; but the sun set, and the
night came on, and the moon shone again calmly on the waters,

MORNING AT CHANTI BOON. 107

and we had yet a good half degree to make before arriving at
the anchorage ; so I went to bed, and the only thing that dis-
turbed my slumbers that night was the shaking of the ship
as the heavy chain rattled heavily over her bows, sure and happy
intimation that the careful navigator had brought the ship safely
to her journey's end.

I turned out next morning, ripe with expectation, and went
on deck. The cool, perfumed morning air was delightful and
invigorating ; the gentle murmuring of the waves as they
rippled over the pebble-strewed beach, was soft, pleasant music to
the ear. The solemn silence that reigned around was only inter-
rupted by the occasional scream of the sea-hawk, or the splash
of the waters as the keen-eyed kingfisher plunged into the wave
in pursuit of its morning's meal. The scenery around was wild
and picturesque ; and the lofty three-hundred-peaked mountains
in the distance, seemed to verge imperceptibly into the cloudless
azure skies of that clime. Beyond this, there was nothing !
no stir of life, no boats, no ships not even a fisherman : but
there was a quiet, happy, peaceful charm about the place at
that early hour of the day, that made one, not sad, but pensive,
and turned stray thoughts from the current of their every-
day worldly course, into a channel more meet for mankind ; it
brought the creature to think of the Creator, and lifted up the
soul to exclaim with the psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold are
thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is
full of thy riches."

After breakfast, the best boat in the ship was rigged out as a
cutter, and the captain, supercargoes, and myself, set sail in her
for the town of Chanti Boon. There were two channels round
the island, which is situated exactly opposite to the mouth of
the river, and the tide was running round either side like a
perfect sluice. We had quite a job to keep the boat from being
stranded ; and it required the combined force of the sails and
oars to keep us anywhere near mid-channel ; but when we once
got fairly round the island, then we were swept with amazing

108

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

velocity right into the centre of the river, and so floated up.
The land at the entrance was very low, marshy ground, teeming
with rank weeds and innumerable noisy croaking frogs. Now
and then a solitary crane poked his astonished head over the
grass, and, sadly alarmed at such an apparition as a boat, gave
utterance to a croak of surprise, and flew heavily across the
river to the opposite side. In the midst of all this desolation,

ENTKANCE TO CHANTI BOON RIVER.

was one solitary miserable hut, perched high up in the air on
the stumps of four very lofty cocoa-nut trees ; and at the door
of this hut, when we passed, was seated its sole occupant and
lord and master, an old shrivelled-up man, with hardly a rag to
cover his nakedness, and who, to all appearance, had planted
himself there about the same period that the trees which sup-
ported his cabin had sprung up, and had simultaneously with

THE GUARDIAN OF THE RIVEE. 109

them gone to decay. He was busily engaged pounding up the
betel-nut composition for mastication (for he and his teeth had
long since parted company) when we first saw him, but no
sooner did he catch a glimpse of our boat than he seemed, as if
by inspiration, to be endowed with all the energies of a lad of
sixteen ; he flung away his betel-nut, slipped down the ladder
with marvellous celerity, flew to his little canoe, launched, and
was busy paddling after us, in less time than it has taken me to
write this. Loudly and authoritatively did he shout to us to
stop ; and when at last, for sheer curiosity's sake, we hove the
boat to, to hold parley with him, the fierce little old fellow, so
soon as he had recovered his breath, attacked us like a royal
tiger. " What ! " said he, " do you Franks dare to break the
laws of this country, and set my authority at defiance, in broad
daylight 1 I, who am the custom-house officer and reporter-
general, without whose permit no one is allowed to pass up this
river ! I have three loaded muskets," said he, holding up his
fingers to indicate that there was no mistake about their
number, " and it's a mercy that in my anger I did not fire upon
and kill you all ! " Excessive was the old man's wrath to find
that we were highly amused, and laughed at his threats. After
a little while, however, he saw it was useless, and so went on
another tack, begging and imploring us not to go up before he
had reported our arrival to the governor ; for although it was
simply a form to be gone through, still the non-performance of
this office might cost him his post, and that would break his
heart ; for apart from his having no means to support himself,
and being without friends or family, twenty years' usage had so
accustomed him to the dear cot on that lovely spot he inhabited,
that his being separated from and obliged to quit it, would
bring his grey head in sorrow down to the mud, and cause him
to lie down and die amidst his bosom friends and old compa-
nions, the frogs. Compassionating the poor old fellow, we
agreed to take him on board of our boat, and tow his little
canoe up with us till within a short distance of Chanti Boon,

110 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

when we would despatch him ahead, and land, and breakfast
somewhere on the banks of the river, till his return.

No monkey or parroquet was ever more chatty or noisy
than this old worthy. He gave us to understand that all the
twenty years that he had been in that hut, he had never had
any friendly intercourse with human beings ; relatives he had
none ; he was generally wont of a morning to sally forth in
his canoe and reconnoitre the anchorage, but by some strange
hazard he had this day put off his diurnal trip, perfectly
persuaded in his own mind that no stranger had arrived,
for ships had never during his experience touched at this
point, and junks always announced their near approach by the
most frightful dinning noise of gongs ; hence his surprise was
only to be equalled by his consternation when he first caught
sight of our vessel. Strange old piece of humanity ! His
salary was somewhere about a ticol a month, equal to half-a-
crown sterling, and upon this and the occasional charity of
passers-by, he had long subsisted, but then he was cunning in
herbs and knew where to go in the forest to look for wild yams
and other roots, and not unfrequently in these foraging excur-
sions he stumbled across a wild boar, and sometimes a bear ;
the sole inmates of his hut, he assured us, were an old cat and
a tame rat. Fowls he had given up keeping, for they used to
stray away from his vast domain, and get whipped off by hungry
jackals, or the wild cat of the jungle. The greatest imaginable
boon that could be conferred upon this old fellow was tobacco,
and powder and shot. The former he smoked incessantly ; the
latter brought him in an occasional meal of meat, and he had
only to watch from his cabin door of a morning, just about
daybreak, when all the wild fowl of the jungle came down to the
water's edge to quench their thirst, to enable him with facility
to get a good shot at a partridge, or what is better still, a fine
jungle cock. He was also an expert fisherman, so that the only
provisions he laid by in store were rice, ghee (melted butter),
onions, garlic, and salt those five indispensables of an Oriental's

AKRIVAL AT CHANT! BOON. Ill

life. The jungle afforded him firewood enough to roast himself with,
and the river quenched his thirst ; he assured us he had never
known an hour's sickness during the long period of his hermitage,
and hardly a moment's discontent, though it was by no means an
uncommon event when he was coiled up in his corner of a
night to hear the grievous roar of angry tigers contesting under
his cabin for the booty afforded by some luckless stag, or a wild
goat that had been caught at the water's side. As for snakes,
the description he gave of those he had seen was marvellous in
the extreme, and though doubtless he exaggerated as to size,
&c., I have little doubt in my own mind but that some very ugly
customers of this species infested the jungles around. A sure
sign of this was the entire absence of monkeys, though the
interior was infested with them. Monkeys like not the vicinity
of serpents, and I have seen them almost go into fits from exces-
sive alarm at the sight of even a dead snake. Thus the old man
enlivened us with tales of his life and adventures, and our little
boat progressed rapidly up the stream ; the banks were thickly
set with mangroves, and there was a species of wild jessamine
whose blossom was very delightful, and attracted swarms of bees
and very many beautiful butterflies. We could see nothing of
the country around us from our low position, and the trip would
have been tedious indeed had it not been for the engaging tales
of the queer little old custom-house officer. At length we came
in sight of the tall elegant spire of the distant watt at Chanti
Boon, which was glistening like a diadem of precious stones in
the sunlight ; five minutes more sailing brought us to a fine open
part of the country where the embankments of the river were
higher than heretofore, and where lofty tamarind trees grew in
abundance. Selecting the most shady of these, we landed, and*
having dispatched the old man in his diminutive canoe to
announce our advent, we bethought ourselves of breakfast, and
had it forthwith. The neighbouring country was richly cultivated
and strictly guarded, for several of the plants and trees in the
neighbourhood were of that class that yield costly gums, amongst

112 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

others the gamboge, benzoin, or frankincense ; owing to this, riot
a cow or any kind of cattle was seen grazing on the rich pasturage,
which was profuse indeed, lest they might injure the valuable
trees, some of which were saplings that had not long since been
planted. The guards, however, were permitted to allow their
ponies to graze on these plots, securing them by a chain fastened
round the right forefoot and riveted to a peg driven firmly into
the ground.

I never saw a country in every respect more fitted for the
rearing of the silk-worm than the district of Chanti Boon.
The fine alluvial soil was just what would nurture the white

igg===s="

VIEW OF CHANTI BOON.

mulberry, and cause it to attain to great perfection of growth ;
and the climate in the spring (the period when we visited it,)
,was just of that temperature that would best suit the delicate
and cautiously reared silk-worm. I am confirmed in this
opinion since visiting the silk-reeling districts in Syria, where
the worms are oftentimes exposed to those sudden transitions
in climate which are altogether unknown in such latitudes as
Chanti Boon.

SIAMESE COOKERY. 113

In due time the ogre of a custom-house officer returned with a
permit, and if the governor imagined at the time that he granted
it that we were on board of the vessel, he must certainly
have been unfeignedly surprised to see us so soon make our
appearance at his residence. The governor's house was
pleasantly situated on the banks of the river, and commanded
a fine view of the surrounding country. Unlike the other
houses of officials that we had visited in Siam, this one was
remarkable for its cleanliness ; and the few nights that we slept
on shore we revelled in the rare luxury of unexceptionable clean
bed linen. Of all Oriental cookery, however, the Siamese is the
most execrable and unwholesome ; not from the want of the
wherewithal to cook (for most certainly the pork and poultry
were remarkably fine), but from want of savoir faire, and from
the abominable practice they have of eating pickled garlic, and
flavouring all their dishes strongly with this unsavoury condiment.

Our reception by the Governor of Chanti Boon was vastly
different to that afforded to the Pdre Fontenoy, who accompanied
Tachard on his embassy to Siam in 1685, just one hundred and
fifty-six years before my visit to that country. Fontenoy went
to Chanti Boon, accompanied by some brother Jesuits : he found
the town some way inland from the banks of the river. It is
now built almost over the water. The very climate and nature
of the place seem to have changed, for he talks of the country
being flooded for half the year, whereas inundations are now of
rare occurrence ; in short, the only thing that seems to have kept
pace with time are the mosquitoes, of which I had amply
disagreeable proof, and of which Fontenoy complains most
bitterly.

" Chanti Boon," says the same author, " is situated at the foot
of one of that long range of mountains which separates the
kingdom of Siam from that of Cambogia," On the side on
which the Jesuit party entered it was fortified by an old wooden
fortress, more fit, observes Fontenoy, to serve as a protection
from the invasion of wild beasts than to serve as a resistance

i

I 14 RESIDENCE IN STAM.

against the attack of organised troops. Now-a-days, it has
become a quiet, thriving, populous mercantile town, every one
in and about it wearing the look of affluence and contentment ;
and such soldiers as reside in the district, or are in cantonment
in town, make oftener use of their arms in making those stabs
from which the gum called gamboge exudes than in injuring
either friend or foe. The natural barrier formed by the lofty
range of mountains in the immediate vicinity of Chanti Boon, is
a safeguard against the pillaging attacks of the Cochin Chinese,
for which the Siamese ought to be very thankful ; for without
this nothing but a remnant of the large revenue annually yielded
would ever enter the Government treasury.

The neighbourhood of Chanti Boon abounds with wild
elephants, tigers, chetahs, and a vast variety of wild beasts,
reptiles, and insects ; of the two latter the most destructive
being the cobra de capella and the Indian white ant, the
former fatal to the life of man, the latter to his household
goods and chattels. 'Tis strange how the cobra de capella
avails itself of the industry of that most destructive of all
destructive creatures, the white ant. White ants in hordes innu-
merable, with amazing alacrity, sometimes in the course of a
single night, raise up a fabric for their own habitations, and
to serve as warehouses for their winter provision of food, often
more than two feet high and full twelve feet in diameter.
These ant-hills are pierced with an innumerable number of
holes, each hole leading to a different department or suite of
chambers. On first being raised, this mound of earth is of a
very fragile nature, and easily demolished ; but a few days
baking in the hot sun makes it become so hard and strong,
as to be quite proof against the heaviest showers of rain, and to
resist many a hard blow from a pickaxe. But before it assumes
this consistence, the wary cobra, who is on the look-out for nice
airy apartments for his wife and expected family, and is too
indolent or unskilled to labour for himself, coolly takes pos-
session of the ant-hill, and whilst it is in a yet mouldable

THE COBRA DE CAPELLA. 115

condition, carves out for himself a large space, in which he
thenceforward takes up his position. The moment this unwel-
come intruder presents himself, the ants decamp, leaving him in
undisturbed possession of their labours. Whenever a Hindoo or
a native of Chanti Boon observes one of these moulds erected
in a place unpleasantly close to his own domicile, he carefully
watches it till he can trace symptoms of the cobra having
entered into possession, and then he and his neighbours instantly
set to work to construct a strong fence all round it, which is so
thickly set with thorn bushes as to render all egress impossible.
The snake has no chance of escaping without being impaled,
and would consequently die of starvation were it not for the
superstitious creed of its incarcerators. These latter make it
a religious point of duty to supply the venomous brute each
morning with milk, and eggs, and other similar dainties ; and
in the course of a week or ten days, the cobras, male and female,
become so accustomed to regular hours, that, punctual to the
minute, they may be seen peeping out of their respective holes,
in quiet expectation of their breakfast ; and in a very short
time they will, without evincing any signs of fear, come forth
and partake of the good things let down to them in the presence
of ever so many spectators. So much for the belief in the
transmigration of souls a creed highly beneficial to snakes and
other nauseous reptiles, who, but for this, as the population
spread in the East, would be in the course of time utterly
exterminated. Both Siamese and Indians have a strange notion
with regard to snails ; they pretend to be able to track a snake
by them, " for," say they, " they are the snakes' water-carriers^
and wherever you see the track of a snail on the ground, be sure
that a cobra is not far off."

Fontenoy, in speaking of the ants that infest this part of Siam,
says : " The ants- which in Europe construct their dwellings
under the earth and retire to them during winter, make their
nests and store their provisions in Siam at the tops of the trees,
so as to preserve them from the inundations which cover

i 2

116 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

the earth during five or six months of the year." It was an
error to attribute to the floods this peculiarity in the construc-
tion of these ants' nests. There are many different qualities or
sects of ants in India ; and the class here particularly referred
to is to be found on the highest as well as lowest ground in
India and Siam. The ant that inhabits trees is of a dirty red
colour, and possessed of a wofully sharp sting, which makes the
wound smart again, as I well know to my cost, and leaves a
white bump on the injured part, which smarts and itches alter-
nately for several hours after the wound is inflicted. These ants
are invariably found on mango and other fruit trees, and are
most destructive enemies to the fruit ; their nests are conveni-
ently situated in the branches of the tree, and are composed of
two large leaves stitched together in a very surprising manner.
I have oftentimes mistaken these nests for those of that beautiful
little bird, the purple honeysucker, and had my thirst for birds-
nesting severely checked and punished by the fiery, venomous
little occupants. All trees yielding gums are also a favourite
resort of these red ants, and planters and gardeners are obliged to
resort to pitch, which they lay thickly over the stem of valuable
trees, to save the fruit and gum from destruction. I can easily
understand that Fontenoy should attribute the habits of this
little insect to wonderful instinct ; for he sought in everything
he did or saw, to render praise to the Creator of the Universe ;
at least, I am led to suppose so from the following passages
that occur in his travels, when, after undergoing every imagin-
able privation and ill, he was compelled to travel barefooted over
brambles and thorns, on his way from Chanti Boon to a village
near Bangkok. " II falloit," he exclaims, " marcher par les bois
ou les occasions de souffrir ne nous manquerent pas. Mais nous
apprimes en meme-tems que ce n'est pas une chose bien difficile
d* alter pieds nuds parmi les cailloux, quand on se propose la gloire
de Dieu dans ce genre de vie"

We visited the warehouse, where we found men, women, and
children hard at work, picking, sorting, and packing cardamums ;

VOYAGE TO TKINGANO. 117

others, again, were weighing the ivory and gamboge, and a few
carrying down what was ready for shipment to the boats, and the
whole presented a busy and pleasing tableau that one could
hardly hope to see in so outlandish a place as Chanti Boon.

About three days before the Sir Walter Scott had finished
loading the produce of Chanti Boon, at Lemsing, for Bangkok, the
Siamese frigate, Victory, called in to see how affairs were
getting on, and to get water and provisions on board : her ulti-
mate destination was Tringano, the chief town of a province of
that name, situated on the east coast of the Malayan Peninsula,
in about 5 20' North (almost in a parallel with the Island of
Penang), and 103 00' East. This province had long been tribu-
tary to Siam, and the Victory was about to proceed there to
collect the annual taxes, but it was Captain S.'s intention to
visit and explore several of the islands and harbours on the
west coast of the Gulf before proceeding to Tringano ; and as he
knew that I was very partial to sketching, after my own uncouth
fashion, he kindly offered me a passage on board of his vessel,
which offer I gladly availed myself of. We accordingly sailed
from Lemsing, and steered a direct course across the gulf towards
Pulo Bardia and Champon, in the province of Champon. I
should have been sorry, indeed, to have found myself in the
vicinity of these places in anything but a well-armed and ad-
mirably disciplined man-of-war both of which was the case with
the Victory which, from being the crack ship in the Siamese
service, had a crew of picked and chosen men and officers, and
everything on board, from the guns to the marline spikes, were
'the best of their sort procurable. The Siamese Gulf is at all
times a turbulent one : I never made a trip of a week's duration
without encountering violent squalls, if not a gale. On our
passage to Pulo Bardia, just as we had got about half way
across the gulf, we were taken aback one morning by one of
those violent whirlwind squalls, known in India by the significant
name of " Pishash" which means in our vernacular his satanic
majesty. Lucky, indeed, it is that they are so swift upon the

118 RESIDENCE IN S1AM.

wing, that you are hardly aware of their presence before they
have passed on miles away ; it is but the work of a minute, but
during that minute the confusion and mischief that ensue are
almost incredible. There were we, for instance, gliding peacefully
through the water, the waves as calm and contented as our own
consciences, for we had just come up from a very excellent
breakfast. The man at the wheel was indolently looking up at
the main royal haulyards, on which a couple of Java sparrows
were endeavouring to gain a footing. The captain walked the
poop in the quiet enjoyment of his after-breakfast cigar. I was
sitting under the poop-awning trying to sketch off the old
Chinese carpenter, whilst that inoffensive and unconscious
individual, lost in contemplation and the huge brim of a large
straw hat, was leaning over the starboard bulwark gazing in-
tently into the sea. The serang was busy forward instructing
the younger hands in the art of splicing and reeving. The
tindal was trying to catch fish ; one or two men were up aloft
greasing the masts and tarring the rigging. The black cook, in
the blacker-looking galley, was turning white like iron from
heat, and fanning himself with the wing of a chicken that he had
just slaughtered. The officer of the w r atch was out on the bow-
sprit ; and a couple of pigs that were permitted to run about
the decks had found a nice cool berth under the shady side of the
galley. As for the poultry in the long boat, they were perfectly
overcome by the heat, and no sound issued from their retreat,
save the occasional squeak of some unlucky chicken that had
foolishly trusted itself within reach of the beak of a spiteful hen.
Jacko was seated in the stern sheets, busily occupied in pulling
to pieces the rim of an old straw hat, and a veteran old cock that
had escaped from his prison in a hencoop, was quietly perched
on one leg on the side of the long boat, nodding drowsily. This
was the quiet state of affairs on the morning in question, when
without the slightest warning, there burst upon the ship a
terrific whirlwind. The Chinaman was the first to feel it. I
saw him turn as pale as a ghost, and at that instant his hat went

EFFECTS OF A WHIRLWIND. 1]9

flying merrily over the side. There was a noise such as never
was heard even in Noah's ark wind howling, sails flapping,
spars cracking, blocks falling, men shouting, pigs squealing,
fowls cackling, Jacko screaming a confused uproar of sounds,
and every body holding on tight to something or other, under
the firm persuasion that that alone could save them. A minute
and half a minute and it was all over all three top-gallant masts
sprung flying jibboom in the w r ater, jib in tatters mainsail
split three topsails in same lamentable condition cook under
galley-fire Chinaman stranded on a cable the old cock over-
board and self under poop-awning, holding on to the broom,
which, in the hurry of the moment, I had fondly imagined to be
the strong brass railing of the poop. It was some few minutes
before we knew exactly whether we were standing on our heads
or our heels ; but when we did recover our senses, so ludicrous
was the position in which each one found himself, and saw his
neighbour, that it was impossible to resist a simultaneous roar
of laughter. The jiamages were soon repaired, for spare spars
and sails were not wanting on board the Victory ; and three
days after this accident, we came to an anchor between Pulo
Bardia and Champoii in seven and a half fathoms clear water,
with a fine clay bottom.

On the west side of Pulo Bardia, and just opposite to the town
of Champon, is situated a large and thriving village, the inhabi-
tants of which we found to be a civil, obliging, and industrious
people. Their farm-yards were well stocked with pigs, poultry,
goats, and even a few cows. We never wanted for fresh eggs, or
milk, or butter during our stay. The men were better-looking
than the general run of Malays, and some of the women and girls
were really remarkably handsome, possessing not the slightest
cast of a Malay profile, and with figures that were most unex-
ceptionable ; but this, I imagine, arises from the natives of
Champon having intermarried with Tenessareiie men and
women : many of the latter are descended from Indian castes,
such as Gentoos, &c., and the Gentoos, though dark, have, with

120

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

very few exceptions, handsome and regular features and fine
commanding figures. In Bardia, we found vegetables plentiful
and cheap ; flowers grew wild and abundant, and I seldom saw a
more beautiful collection of birds, butterflies, and moths than

PULO BARDIA.

those that we collected at Bardia. Champon is situated about
seven miles up the river Tayung. We visited the town two or
three times, and purchased of the natives a vast variety of skins,
some of which were rare and handsome, especially those of the
squirrel tribe. I imagine that the Tayung river might easily be
rendered navigable for vessels of a moderate tonnage right up to
Eindony on the West Coast ; and if this could be accomplished
it would cut off a great circuit for vessels bound from China to
Calcutta and Madras.

PULO BAKDIA AND CHAMPION.

121

We remained a fortnight at Pulo Bardia, and then coasted
along towards Tringano, passing Sancori and Carnom point, and,
the wind proving fair, we went right through the Channel,
between Ligor and the Island of Tantalem, in some parts
rather dangerous navigation, owing to sunken rocks ; but our
scrany had often been through before in smaller craft, and he

undertook to pilot the vessel. The scenery on both sides was
very grand. On the old Ligor coast the bold lofty range of
mountains contrasted finely with the low rich fertile ground of
Tantalem : then there was a fine creek or river off Talung ; and
about four in. the evening we hove-to, off Sangora, which town,
much to the terror of the inhabitants, we saluted with twenty-
one guns. The roar of the cannon was echoed and re-echoed in
every direction. No sooner had the last sound died away in the
distance, than the old Eajah put off in his state barge and came
alongside to inquire into the cause of the hubbub, and his alarm

122

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

was changed into great joy and gratification when Captain S.
informed him that the salute was intended for himself (the
Rajah). He pressed us very much to land, but the wind was
too favourable to lose, so simply begging of him to forward our
letters that we entrusted to his care, overland to Queda and

SANGORA. STRAITS OF TANTALUM.

Penang, we braced up again to the breeze, and, rounding the
Cape, opposite to Lan Sun, stood out for Pulo Lozin, so as to
have a fair offing to chase us off Cape Patani. The Victory
sailed like a witch on a wind, and we had a fine stiff breeze that
night that made her dance again over the water. She completely
ran away with us, and the morning watch immediately after
being called gave the alarm, much to the captain's astonishment,
of land on the larboard bow. According to his reckoning we
should have sighted the island at daybreak, instead of which,
when day broke, there was Pulo Lozin far away on our stern.
Being perfectly satisfied on this point, the vessel was eased off
gradually till the wind was right astern, and then, with studding

STORM OFF TK1NGANO.

sails below and aloft, we stood directly for the passage between
Pulo Santingo and the Great Eedang. As the day grew the wind
increased, until it settled into a perfect gale. One by one the

WORKING THROUGH PULO SAXTINGO AND GREAT REDANG.

sails were taken in and reefed, till we were reduced to two close
reefed topsails. The ship rolled mightily through the heavy
tempestuous billows : at noon we sighted the Great Eedang ; at
half-past three we entered the Channel, still rolling heavily ;
and at six in the evening we came to an anchor, under the lee
of a small island off the coast of Tringano. Next morning the
weather was calm, and we proceeded on to the town, a distance
of about twenty-five miles from our anchorage. We arrived at
noon, and much to my disappointment I found on landing that
the Eajah had prepared the tithes, presents, &c., against our
arrival, so that we had nothing to detain us but to get a few

124 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

provisions and some water on board. We had a ramble over the
town ; it was neatly enough constructed, and the environs
abounded with beautiful fruit gardens. The natives, both men
and women, were handsome and robust, and seemed very happy
and contented. We dined at the Eajah's that evening, and
visited the long store-house built for the warehousing of all export
and import goods. It belongs to the Eajah, who is the sole
merchant in that province, and who monopolises all the trade.
There was a strange variety of commodities in this store-house,
and amongst other things a surprising quantity of Chinese toys,
which the Eajah informed us were the most saleable articles of
the import trade. Old boys of four-score delighted in watching
the movements of a little carriage that ran upon springs on being
wound up like a watch. That night we sailed again on our
return to Siam, and in due course anchored off the prince's
palace at Bangkok.

FESTIVAL OF THE PEACE OFFERING.

125

CHAPTEE VIII.

Festival of the Peace Offering. Legend which has given rise to the festival. Pro-
cession of the inhabitants to celebrate it. Description of the ceremonies.
Peculiar mode of catching fish. Description of a supper supplied by a Chinese.
Visit to the ruined city of Yuthia. Return to Bangkok.

FTEK the exorbitant expenditure
gone to by the Siamese govern-
ment in the case related in a
previous chapter, namely, as re-
gards the support of the two
Siamese white elephants, another
proof of their possessing more
riches than brains is clearly
seen in the annual festival
called the festival of the "Peace
Offering" which is at Bangkok kept up with
the greatest magnificence and splendour. This
festival is held in commemoration of the day
on which, according to Siamese tradition, silver
and precious metals were first discovered to be contained in the
mines in the interior of the Siamese dominions ; and the story
linked with this tradition has at least the merit of being
purely oriental fairy legendary lore. As some of my fair readers
may perhaps be desirous of hearing this romantic legend as it
was related to me, so shall I describe it. But, alas ! the
emphasis and the gestures made use of by the original story-
teller, cannot be imitated by my feeble pen.

126 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

THE LEGEND OF THE " KING'S DAUGHTER."

Many, many years ago, when the sun was much nearer the
earth than it now is, and when their Celestial Majesties, the
Kings or Emperors of China or Siam, were wont to hold daily
intercourse with old Sol, their elder brother, and consult him in
all cases of difficulty and danger, employing his numerous
retinue the stars, and even in cases of emergency those more
distinguished officers, the planets, as emissaries of peace or
warfare, there dwelt at Yuthia, the then capital of the Siamese
dominions, a very aged monarch, who, after having reigned with
a peaceful sway over his subjects for a period of nearly two
centuries, tired of the cares and troubles attendant upon the
regal state, had abdicated the throne in favour of his only son,
a mild youth, of not more than one hundred and sixty or seventy
years old. Old age was, at that period, a thing almost unheard
of in these favoured regions, before a thousand or fifteen hun-
dred years had elapsed, such was the warmth, and strength, and
life imparted by the close proximity of kind old Sol, who never
thought of turning in of a night, lest perchance some evil might
befall his cherished brethren and their subjects. This having
been the very brilliant state of affairs, the services of the Stars
were of course at a low valuation ; and they, vexed to find
their brilliancy thus totally eclipsed, formed the wicked reso-
lution of revolting against their lawful sovereign and liege
master ; and, accordingly, instead of going to sleep during the
twelve hours vulgarly termed day, they unanimously and secretly
agreed to watch old Sol's movements, and only to make sham to
sleep. " For," quoth they, " this used not to be our sovereign's
wont of old ; he loved his couch as much as we do ours, and
there certainly must be some very strong attraction to draw him
so close to this vile empire, Earth, quitting those loftier hemi-
spheres where he breathed the fresh, untainted air of heaven."

Having closed this compact, the naughty little stars, in lieu of

A SIAMESE LEGEND. 127

going to sleep like good little constellations, only pretended to
snooze, and kept blinking their bright little inquisitive eyes, first
at one another, and then at their master the Sun, who, quite
unconscious of the horrid snare laid to watch him, and imagining
his retinue all asleep, grew brighter, and brighter, and brighter,
as the hour approached mid-day, and a perpetual benign smile
dwelt upon his jolly, big round face.

Now, it so happened, that the old monarch before alluded to,
who dwelt in quiet and peaceable retirement, possessed one only
daughter, whose name was, being interpreted, " The Rosy Morn"
.Rosy Morn was as beautiful as her name, you may perceive,
indicates ; she was the only comfort and solace of her poor, aged
father, and besides himself and her own family, none had ever
set eyes upon her lovely face ; beautiful and good, chaste and
simple, her sole amusements and pastimes consisted in lulling her
aged parent to rest by the music of her sweet voice, and while he
slumbered, sauntering amongst unfrequented woods and dells,
making the hills echo again to her merry notes, and culling
the sweet wild flowers of the forest, to make wreaths with which
she decorated her lovely brow. There was a purling brook that
murmured gently by the mountain side, and in a cavern, shaded
from the mid-day heat, " Kosy Morn" was wont each day to rest
awhile, bathing her weary little feet in the cool crystal waters as
she crossed. Here, in deep solitude, would she watch the gambols
of the sportive squirrels, or, listening to the gentle murmuring of
the zephyr as it rustled through the topmost boughs of the
banian tree, fall into soft sleep, and dream of bright birds and
flowers beyond conception sweet. But, alas for her peace ot
mind ! and alas for her pure and guileless heart ! it chanced one
day that in her usual rambles, a gorgeous butterfly, more
glorious than any she had heretofore seen, flew past her- path
and lighted on a neighbouring flower. In sportive chase of that
deceptive moth, she sped from flower to flower, from myrtle bush
to wild jessamine bower. 'Twas vain ! The moth at length
took lofty flight, and flitting high up in the air, she strove to

128 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

watch it still, till Sol's bright chariot coming over the shady hill,
dazzled her eyes so much, that she was forced to relinquish all
hopes of capturing the errant moth, and so, disconsolate, and
with her small feet aching, she retraced her steps, and sought
her loved retreat, there, in the sleep of innocence, to forget her
woe. Arriving at the favourite brook, she stooped to quench her
thirst from its refreshing waters ; and the day was so hot, and
she so much fatigued, that the idea occurred to " Eosy Morn" of
bathing in that limpid stream. Now she floated merrily down
with the ripples, now struggled against their tiny efforts ; and,
finally, very much refreshed and delighted with the experiment,
and vowing to repeat it again on the morrow, she sought refuge
in the cavern (having, of course, re-dressed herself} and there fell
fast asleep.

Now, it so happened, that whilst all this was occurring, old
Sol, who was wide awake, and on the look-out from his chariot
at the very identical moment that " Rosy Morn" was gazing up
after the butterfly, caught a glimpse of her incomparably charm-
ing face, and, as is often the case even now-a-days, fell despe-
rately in love at first sight, and instantly changing the course of
his chariot, drove at a furious rate down towards the earth. So
skilfully managed were the reins, and so fleet the coursers, that
they arrived just in time to permit of Sol's enjoying a prospect of
" Rosy Morn's " gambols in the water. If at a distance he had
been struck with her charms, on a nearer view he nearly went
frantic with love ; and, no sooner had " Rosy Morn" retired to
her couch in the cavern, than, like an impudent fellow, he must
follow too. Sol, it would appear, was an accomplished lover ;
he claimed connection with "Rosy Morn's " father, and her uncle
and the whole of the family connections ; and, in short, con-
ducted himself in so ingenious and fascinating a way, that he
gained complete possession of poor Rosy's heart, and they there
and then exchanged vows of eternal fidelity. The courtship was
of rather long duration, somewhere about two thousand years.
But what is that to the gods 1 Sol kept everybody alive with

LEGEND OF ROSY MORN. 129

his warm good-nature and perpetual mirth ; and regularly, at
the hour of noon, he and "Rosy Morn" met at the appointed
rendezvous.

Matters were in this state when the stars got an inkling of the
real state of affairs, and, as I said before, kept watch over the
knight errant's proceeding. Just as the hour of noon approached,
they saw "Rosy Morn " approach, and they saw her meeting with
Old Sol, and watched them both go into the cavern together,
and then, while the unsuspicious lovers were fondly conversing,
the stars drove off the chariot that had carried Old Sol, and
the horses, taking fright, set off at full speed, and ran home
again. Having thus cut off all retreat, the stars raised a simul-
taneous shout, proclaiming the sin their sovereign was con-
victed of ; disclaiming him as their lawful master, and declaring
a republic amongst themselves. Poor Old Sol trembling and
convicted, shed tears of pure gold, and the mountains taking
pity upon him opened a cavern, by which he might reach his
home in safety, and told him that he might drive through there
every day for safety's sake. Sol shed abundant tears of gold
and wept at intervals as he went along ; these spots where he
wept are now the gold mines of Siam. It took Sol twelve hours
to regain his home, and then he drove out as usual, passing
through this cavern on his way home every night ; and they say
that, for a fortnight in every month, he picks up his bride,
" Rosy Morn," at the mouth of the cavern, and takes her home
with him. As for "Rosy Morn," she wandered disconsolate through
many caverns and mountains also, and her tears, flowing abun-
dantly, were all tears of silver : these spots are now the silver
mines of Siam. At length a compact was closed between the
republican stars and Old Sol, to the end that, for one-half of the
month, they should be allowed to gaze upon her lovely face, and
that she was to live with Old Sol the other half ; but it was dis-
tinctly stipulated that Old Sol should never dare to kiss " Rosy
Morn," or, as she is now called the Moon, before publi3 gaze.
This stipulation is, however, occasionally broken when an eclipse

130 KESIDENCE IN STAM.

solar or lunar takes place ; and then, on such occasion, the
Siamese turn out en masse, and shout and fire guns, and beat
gongs to warn both parties of the impropriety of such proceedings,
and the warning generally has its due effect in the course of two
or three hours such time being requisite to elapse before the
warning sound could travel such a great distance from earth.

Such, gentle reader, is the fable of the festival of the peace-
offering, and the spot where it is celebrated is, by the Siamese,
believed to be the very identical cave where " Rosy Morn " and
Old Sol were wont to plight their faith, and vow vows of eternal
love.

To this cavern an annual pilgrimage is made by all the male
inhabitants of Bangkok and the surrounding villages each man
carrying with him, according to his means and position in life, an
offering in the shape of pieces of money, in gold and silver,
which votive offering is, after a form of prayer repeated by the
attendant priests, cast into an impenetrable pit at the further
end of the cavern. The procession usually starts from Bangkok
by water, and landing at Yuthia, or Juthia, the ancient capital,
proceeds on foot through a well-beaten pathway to the much-
revered spot, which is not many miles distant from the place of
debarkation.

We accompanied this procession in the year 1840, having
been permitted to do so under the kind auspices and

patronage of Mr. H , who possessed sufficient influence

at court to procure us this privilege a boon seldom accorded
to any professing a creed differing from that of the Siamese
themselves. At daybreak on the appointed day, canoes
were seen gliding rapidly from every part of the river towards

the mosque of the White Elephant. H , myself, and two or

three others, masters of different vessels, had been astir since
four o'clock, nearly an hour and a half before the first tint of
dawn made its appearance in the rosy east. We made good use
of our leisure time in disposing of a goodly quantity of viands
and other substantiate for breakfast, knowing full well that as

A SIAMESE PILGRIMAGE. 131

His Majesty himself was to head the procession, we should be
denied anything in the shape of a breakfast before that mighty
potentate had satiated his appetite, an event not likely to occur
before midday at the earliest, and one which would have consi-
derably damped our having any pleasurable participation in the
novelties of the scene we were about to witness. We had just
finished smoking our first cigar as the dawn appeared, and the
spectacle of many canoes presented itself. "Come along!"

cried old H ; " we must be off early, or else the river will

be completely blockaded." Willingly obeying this summons, we
were marshalled down to the water-side, and there found one of
the Prince's state-canoes ready in attendance for us. It was at
all times a handsome boat, but on this particular occasion was
very beautifully and tastefully arranged ; garlands of flowers
were hanging in festoons all round her sides, the men that
paddled were very smartly dressed, and the cushions on which
we sat were composed of crimson velvet, inwrought with gold
tissue flowers. She had twenty paddles, besides the one used by
the steersman, and with all these at work (the tide serving at
the time) the canoe shot through the water like a meteor. We
were soon at the point of rendezvous, and had scarce been there
five minutes before a universal crouching of the multitude
assembled in the endless canoes, the sounding of gongs and
blowing of trumpets proclaimed the approach of no less a
personage than His Majesty the king himself. Though obliged
to bow down my head like the herd in general, I caught a
glimpse of His Majesty through my fingers, as the fat old fellow
came rolling down, supported on either side by cringing cour-
tiers, puffing and blowing like a grampus. The exertion was
evidently a great one for him, and one to which he was but little
accustomed ; as, though the distance was not many hundred
yards, he was compelled more than once to call a halt. At last
the fat king was seated, and the procession formed in regular
order ; the canoes of the ministers of state following next to the
royal family, and the others following in like order, according to

K 2

132 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

the rank of their different proprietors. Mr. H being a peer

of the realm, we were stationed somewhere about the third
range of canoes from the royal family, the average number of
canoes in a line being from five to eight. I was surprised to see
such beautiful regularity and discipline as was kept up in the
lines of march, especially as the current was sweeping us rapidly
towards the points in the many different turnings of the river.
When morning fairly broke, my delight was indeed great to
witness so magnificent a spectacle. Upwards of seventy thou-
sand canoes, all more or less brilliantly painted, with gay
streamers of every colour in the rainbow, floating from little tiny
masts stuck up in the prow and in the stern ; people dressed
in a great variety of coloured stuffs, and the soft bands ot
Siamese music floating gently o'er the water. The voice of
melody was perfection itself, though no distinct chords or airs
could be traced. They had more the effect of several .^Eolian
harps, sighing to the morning zephyr. The instruments used in
these bands were a species of pandean pipes ; they consisted o
several hollow reeds passed through a hollow block of wood
hermetically sealed on all sides, save the orifice left to blow
into. A little hole in each reed, some four or five inches above
the mouth-piece, served as notes, and the performer played with
both hands, keeping all the keys closed except the note he
wished to sound, which note had a responding chord on the
opposite side. The intonation is really beautiful, and I have
little doubt that under skilful hands, this instrument could be
brought to perfection.

Though no one was expected, or rather dared, to break his
fast before the permission of the king had been obtained to this
effect, we took the- liberty of smoking cigars en route, as did
every single soul in this armament of boats, His Majesty, I
believe, excepted. Talk about the Turks being great smokers !
why the Siamese beat them all to nothing. I have often seen a
child only just able to toddle about, and certainly not more than
two years of age, quit its mother's breast to go and get a whiff

BUINS OF TUTHIA 133

from papa's cigaret, or, as they are here termed, borees cigarets
made of the dried leaf of the plantain-tree, inside of which the
tobacco is rolled up.

So we smoked and puffed, and the men puffed and paddled ;
and as we advanced, fresh landscapes were always inviting our
attention : one moment it was a rich sugar-cane plantation

which H envied, and wished he possessed, to convert into

sugar ; the next, it was a thickset mango tope, amongst whose
branches / longed to be, envying the squirrels the felonies they
were committing amongst the ripe and luscious fruit ; a third,
and we came upon a paddy-field, or rice-plantation, and then it
was the Siamese boatmen's turn to be envious, and to turn up
their eyes despairingly, as they knew that the hour for boiled rice
and stewed fish was, alas ! not arrived by a long way, and their
bowels yearned towards this field and its productions. At
length, after three hours' incessant paddling, the tide having
favoured us all the way, we sighted the ruins of the city of
Yuthia. The first thing that turned out to greet us was a
crocodile, and a few minutes afterwards another, perhaps his
mate ; then we met a whole host of crows and a vulture ; lastly,
we arrived at the city itself, and having landed, found it to con-
sist of six fishermen's huts and a betel-nut vendor's stall !
And yet, not more than twenty-five years before the date of my
visit, it had been more densely populated than Bangkok. The
twenty or twenty-five miserable inhabitants were all prostrate
before their little city, waiting till the whole cortege should pass
before they joined in the procession, as the inhabitants of
Bangkok are the cockneys of Siam, and claim precedence
wherever they go. A magnificent litter had been prepared for
the king, and seated in this, he was carried on the shoulders of
eight of his most faithful subjects. The bearers were being
relieved continually ; whether from the ardent desire of all to
share in the honour of carrying so illustrious an individual, or
from other motives, I am unable to say ; I rather think, though,
that they found their burthen so excessively heavy, that they

134 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

were compelled to call in assistance after a very short trial. A
band of pestiferous-looking priests, clad in plague-signal cloth,
led the van, the chief of whom carried the Siamese national
banner, to wit, a red flag with a white elephant in the centre.
The first mile of ground led through paddy-fields abounding
with crows and vultures, things so common in Siam as to render
our march most unexciting, the only excitement entertained
being that of alarm and fear lest, in the thick grass and weeds
through which we were passing, we should inadvertently set foot
upon a snake a by no means agreeable species of sensation, when
you are labouring under the conviction of having come out in
pumps and stockings for the occasion, and that the fangs of a
viper would easily penetrate far more resistible articles. Our
only consolation was, that the priests and those in advance of us
were going over exactly the same ground as ourselves, and were
therefore more liable to fall in the combat. I admit this was
not a very charitable thought, but it is linked with human
nature, and must be excusable. As results proved, however, we
got through this place scot free ; nor snake nor serpent turned
up to oppose our path, or at least if they did they must have
had an effectual quietus in the heels of the shoes of the many-
headed. Emerging from this paddy-field, we entered upon a
sloping ground, which led us into the very heart of a thickly-set
toddy tope, or plantation of cocoa-nut trees. High up, and
seated amongst the lofty branches of these, were a legion of
monkeys, all chattering and grinning and pouting at each other
in a most ludicrous and inquisitive manner ; they were evidently
anxious to ascertain what the whole of these proceedings meant,
and why there should be such a sudden irruption of people
upon their heretofore little-frequented territory. Knowing the
vicious propensities of these creatures, I was chuckling to
myself in the diabolical expectation that one of them might be
induced to drop a friendly cocoa-nut upon the bald pate of his
Celestial Majesty ; but they were evidently Siamese monkeys to
the backbone, and dared not insult their imperial master.

CEEEMONIES AT SACKED CAVERN. 135

Possibly they thought that in reward for such an action, he
might cause their favourite haunts and trees to be cut down
or burnt up with fire. Through this place we also passed
unscathed, and then we entered into a regular jungle, a place
meet for tigers and chetahs, with grass growing taller than any
man, and boughs of trees so impenetrably knit together, that
ages and ages must have passed since the sun ever shone on that
dark decomposed earth.

The jungle was not, however, very broad in this part, and
after about twenty minutes walking we came out into the
morning sunlight again, delighted once more to inhale the
fresh pure air of heaven. There stood before us the miraculous
hill, or rather I should call it, mound, for it was little better
than one of those tumuli so often met with in Syria. In the
centre there was a cavern, and close by it flowed a little brook,
so shallow that you could hardly sink a mouse in it. Thought I
to myself, things must have sadly degenerated since the days of
the famed Siamese Legion, in every respect ; for not only are the
lives of men sadly curtailed, but mountains have become almost
ant-hills, and brooks that floated young ladies, turned into
streamlets that any strong-minded ant could swim across at a
start. Such, however, was the case, and now the ceremony of
the peace-offering commenced. First the king actually conde-
scended to bathe his own feet in a little stream of water, and then
he reverently approached the cavern, and, crouching as he entered,
he went up to the further end, and through a large orifice in the
earth, somewhat resembling a well, and about four feet in
diameter (as I afterwards ascertained), let drop his piece of gold,
and then, backing out in the same way as he had entered,
remounted his litter, and was forthwith conveyed to a spot some
two hundred yards off, where his liege subjects had prepared his
royal breakfast. The moment the king was seated on the
cushions and carpets spread out, some attendant imps entirely
concealed him from view with a curiously wrought circular
screen, and so there was an end to my hopes of getting a sight

136 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

of this grampus at meals. The concourse now thronged by
dozens to the votive shrine ; but though we arrived there by
eleven o'clock in the morning the throng never ceased pressing
towards the caravan till sunset, and then not one-third the
number had accomplished their vows. Thus it would occupy
three good days ere the ceremony could be completed, the interval
being employed by the natives in eating and sleeping throughout
the day (except such as were actively engaged in the ceremony),
and keeping watch throughout the night against the encroach-
ment of reptiles and wild beasts, by keeping large bonfires
continually lit, which served also in some measure to check the
mosquitoes in the murderous nightly onslaught they made, with
a perfect whirlwind of buzzing. The old king absolutely remained
throughout the whole time, but then his comforts had been
amply provided, and with the exception perhaps of the absence
of a few of his favourite Dulcineas, slept d la campagne as well
as he did in his massive palace.

Now I and the others that accompanied Mr. H had by no

means bargained for such a treat as this ; sleep was to our eyes
precious, and breakfasts, dinners, and suppers goodly, so we were
sadly amazed and puzzled to find ourselves in this dilemma.

Old Mr. H , however, after having had his joke out with us,

gave us to understand, to our rapturous delight, that he had
taken due precaution to provide against all apparent evils, telling
us that if we would have the goodness to follow him along the
banks of the little rivulet, twenty minutes' walk would bring us
to a village where the necessary preparations had been made
many days previous. Our spirits were amazingly revived at
this intelligence, and hopping off the ground upon which we were
seated tailor fashion, we walked briskly onwards, quickening
our paces as darkness now gathered in around us, lest a stray
tiger should take it into his head to place an obstacle in our
onward way. With the. exception of one alarm, and that was from
a poor cow that was browsing quietly in a little yam field, and
which a Portuguese captain of our company, in his excessive

VILLAGE ON THE MENAM. 137

anxiety and fear, magnified into an elephant, we encountered
no let or hindrance, and soon after nightfall reached the village
where the welcome tone of the well-known voice of one of
Mr. A 's servants, assured us that all was sunny and com-
fortable, and the result proved his words to be truth itself.

The village at which we had slept consisted of upwards of
thirty houses or sams, built after the Malayan custom, that is
to say, they were raised high up in the air to prevent the
intrusion of reptiles or beasts of prey, and were accessible only
by means of a ladder, which ladder was hauled up and stowed
in one side of the cabin so soon as the family were about to
retire for the night. In the immediate space between the
cabin and the ground, rough bamboos were lashed cross-ways
from the poles that supported the house, and at a height from
the ground that would preclude the possibility of any jackal
or other wild animal Committing depredations amongst the
poultry, and these served for the fowls to roost upon during
the night. The pigs, ducks, &c., were well secured in separate
buildings, and though marauders from the jungle made nightly
efforts to force an entrance into these places, they were so well
and strongly secured that they never succeeded. Each house
had a considerable portion of ground attached to it, which was
principally cultivated with yams and the sweet potato, beans
and radishes being occasionally interspersed ; the banana or
plantain tree here grew very luxuriantly, and ever and anon a
lofty palm or cocoa-nut tree would rear itself proudly above its
dwarfish neighbours. A little tributary stream of the Menam
ran right through the centre of the village, and in the monsoons,
when the fall of rain was often excessively heavy, the natives
informed us that this stream assumed the strength and form of
a perfect torrent, often flooding the surrounding country for
many hundred yards on either bank. This also was another
motive for inducing them to build their houses on the top of
platforms supported by lofty poles. During the two nights that
we slept at this village there was scarcely a male inhabitant

138 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

present, all being absent at the sacred cavern ; the ladies, how-
ever, were very obliging and communicative, and gave us a great
deal of information intermixed with tales of a marvellous and
dubious character. Small fish were very abundant in this little
tributary stream, and we had no small sport in endeavouring to
secure some of them for our luncheon on our way back to the
scene of the festival the next day. The heat was excessive,
although only nine o'clock a.m., and walking did anything but
improve this state of affairs. The cool rippling of the water
looked so inviting that we could not resist the temptation of
bathing, the water was unfortunately very shallow, yet by
remaining in a sitting posture we secured our shoulders from
being blistered by the sun, whose hot rays, however, struck
fiercely on our heads ; to remedy this evil we had recourse to
our large silk pocket-handkerchiefs which we saturated with
water, and then tied round our heads, keeping them damp by
occasionally clipping our heads under water. This completely
secured us from all fears of a coup de soleil, and the enjoyment
of those few hours spent in that stream will not easily be forgotten
by those that remain of the party. The water was as clear as
a mirror, and the fine sand at the bottom finer than the finest
Brussels carpet ; shoals of tiny little fish were darting about in
every direction, and ludicrous were the attempts made by us to
catch them with our hands, the chase generally terminating in a
somersault in the water. One of Mr. H.'s Siamese servants,
a very 'cute lad, and skilful in the art of fishing in particular,
suggested to us a plan, which we immediately adopted, and which
proved successful even beyond our most sanguine expectations :
by means of a mometty or hatchet, which he ran and borrowed
from a husbandman who was tilling a piece of ground not many
hundred yards off, this fellow dug in a very few minutes a
reservoir about two feet distant from the banks of the stream,
and about eighteen inches deeper than the deepest part of
the stream itself. Having completed this he lopped a
goodly-sized bamboo from off one of the many bamboo bushes

A FISH TRAP. 139

that were growing nigh at hand ; cutting off the joints of this
he obtained a hollow piece, which formed a pipe of nearly a
yard in length ; and now commenced the real labour of his
work, and the hatchet was brought into play again ; with this
he dug away at the bottom of the reservoir so as to reduce the
distance between it and the river. Meanwhile, another, inside
of the water, was scratching away in the sand, like a terrier at
a rat-hole, inserting his knees into the vacuum he made so as
to prevent its being immediately filled up again with sand ; in
this way they worked hard for nearly twenty minutes ; the
bamboo tube, which was of immense thickness and strength, was
then by means of a pocket-knife sharpened so well that it would
have been a dangerous weapon to strike a man with, this was
then with might and main passed through the earth, from the
soft clayey side of the reservoir, and in a few minutes a loud
shout proclaimed that victory had crowned their efforts ; the
bamboo tube had penetrated into the stream, and the water for
a moment deviating from its course filled the reservoir with
water. So far so good ; we were as yet in ignorance as to what
was to follow, obeying, however, the injunctions of our Siamese
leader, we all came out of the water, and having separated into
two parties, one marched left and the other right along the
tributary stream ; when either party had got to about a hundred
yards from the reservoir or fish-trap, we were commanded to halt
and enter the water again, and then in open columns to approach
each other splashing the water with our hands, and creating as great
a hullaballoo as we could. This injunction was duly performed, to
the great alarm and astonishment of the shoals of little fish that
fled from us as we were approaching on either side towards the
centre, and there finding, as they fondly imagined, an outlet, they
bolted through the bamboo pipe right into the reservoir, and then
H.'s servant who had been watching on the opposite bank,
when he thought a sufficient quantity had been entrapped, made
a sudden rush into the water, and with one mighty effort pulled
the bamboo tube through, and thus cut off all intercourse between

140 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

the river and the reservoir. Oh ! but it was rare fun to see the
swarms of little fish that were snugly entrapped in that little
reservoir. We began getting them out of the water by means
of a tin-pot, but finding this operation too tedious we resorted to
the far quicker expedient of baling out the water itself ; for this
purpose basket, tin-pot, and even our straw hats were put into
requisition, and in a very short space of time the water was all
gone, and there lay a little shoal of fish which filled a very goodly-
sized basket, and which, in about an hour's time afterwards
were served up in one of the most delicious curries I ever
remember to have tasted. The best of it was their bones were
so delicate that we could swallow them entire, head, tail, bones,
and everything. After getting pretty well splashed with mud in
the operation of baling out, we took to the water again for a few
minutes, and then came out fresh and strong, like giants ready
to run their course.

The second and third days at the scene of the feast passed off
very much the same as the first, we only varying our occupations
by shooting parrots or pigeons, or fishing upon the trap system,
which, I may here remark, never upon a single occasion failed.
On the fourth day, however, the procession closed ranks and
turned their faces towards Bangkok again, with the same state
and ceremony as when they arrived. Our party lingered behind
awhile, so as to get a peep at the cavern. No sooner were the
pilgrims out of sight than our unhallowed feet were treading
upon the earth of the sacred cavern, and our sinful eyes gazing
down that dark mysterious pit, in which so many millions of
precious coins must, through a course of centuries, have been
poured : we dropped stones, and one of our party even
dropped a piece of money, but we listened and listened in vain
for any sound that might announce its arrival at the bottom ;
nothing but a low murmuring sound as the wind swept into the
cavern and rushed through this opening into its dark mysterious
chambers below. " Ah ! " thought I to myself, " if ever I should
live to see John Bull get possession of this fair wealthy land, I

SUPPEK ON THE MENAM. 141

know where to find my bankers. Whilst others may love in the
river to fish, I'll come here with a deep-sea lead covered with
cobbler's wax, and some seventy or eighty fathoms of line, and
if I don't hook up something better than fish, I'm a Dutchman."
Having completed our survey we took to our heels, and ran a race
so as to overtake, if possible, the rear-guard of the pilgrims before
arriving at the worst part of the jungle, for we relished not the
idea of being left alone amongst such very undesirable neigh-
bours as that jungle afforded. Notwithstanding all our speed,
however, we missed them, nor did we ever see them again till
hot and fatigued, out of breath, and exhausted from the good
speed we had made, we reached Yuthia just in time to see the
last few hundred canoes sweeping round the corner of the first
turning in the river. Most strange to say, not a single monkey
was to be seen amongst the cocoa-nut trees on our return, they
had evidently been alarmed by the invasion of so large an army,
and had sought refuge in some more remote part of the jungle.
I have already stated that the city of Yuthia, at the period of
our visit, consisted of some six fishermen's huts and a betel-nut
vendor's stall : on our return from the money-devouring cave,
we agreed to devote one day, at least, to researches amongst its
ruins. The only difficulty however was, how or where we were
to pass the night. After a good deal of discussion about this
knotty point, it was finally arranged that we should sleep in the

canoes moored to the bank, Mr. H retaining the state-canoe

for himself, and myself and the others using those belonging to
the natives. A cushion, however, from the state-canoe was
allotted to each to rest our heads upon, and the bottom planks
of the canoe formed our mattresses ; though by no means soft,
they at least possessed the advantage of being cool beds a very
essential requisite of a sultry night in these hot climes. Matters
being thus satisfactorily arranged, we bethought us of supper ;
for the exercise of the day had given us a keen appetite. One of
the fishermen, a Chinaman by birth, undertook, for the consider-
ation of five ticols in silver, to give us a spread, and we watched

142 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

his cooking operations with the eye of a falcon and the cravings
of a wolf. He was evidently well versed in the culinary art, and
in little more than an hour's time set before us the result of his
labours. The first dish was a species of soup, called by the
natives ckou chou : it was a composition of pork, fowl, yams,
sweet potatoes, ducks, fish, onions, garlic, mint, pepper, salt, and
cloves ; these were all boiled down to a perfect mash, and then
more water and a small piece of bird's-nest were added, till the
whole somewhat resembled in substance ami colour, very rich
turtle-soup. This singular mixture, which perhaps, under any
other circumstances, I should have been very loth to taste, was,
upon trial, highly approved of by all our party ; and having
once eaten it, I should be glad to have such another mess again
any day in the week. After this soup, we had some plain boiled
rice, with mango pickles and lalichung. This latter article I
thought really quite delicious, little imagining at the time
what it was composed of, or how made. Gentle reader, imagine
my horror on learning, some few days after, that lalichung was
nothing more or less than putrified prawns, which are in this
state dried in an oven, and then beat up in a mortar with
onions, garlic, spices, and a little salt ; this is then placed in a
jar, and hot vinegar poured over it ; being then left a sufficient
time to allow the vinegar to penetrate and thoroughly saturate
the fish, the jar is hermetically closed, and set aside for some-
times a couple of months, or even a longer period. The last
dish consisted of some roast ducks, done to a nicety. Having
done ample justice to this supper, we betook ourselves to our
canoe-bedsteads ; and neither heat, nor mosquitoes, nor dew,
interrupted our slumbers through that long night.

The first dawn of day was the signal for all of us to quit our
floating couches. It was very fine and pleasant, and vastly
agreeable and refreshing, so long as we were asleep ; but, oh !
what excruciating pain I experienced in every limb on attempt-
ing to rise ! a kind of sensation as though some one had been
giving me a sound cudgelling over night, and had broken every

RUINS OF YUTHIA. 143

bone in my body. I limped out of the boat as well as I could,
having nearly tumbled into the river in the attempt. The

others were as bad as myself, with the exception of old H ,

who was too old a stager at this kind of work to suffer any
inconvenience therefrom. A few minutes' brisk walking about
the banks made the blood circulate again ; and by the time we
had partaken of some of the old Chinaman's tea, we were all as
well and sprightly as ever.

There is a vile practice, in Turkey, of offering a guest small
cups of very bitter coffee, without sugar or milk, a refusal
to swallow which, would be a gross insult to the host, though
the abomination tastes like a mixture of quassia and quinine.
The Chinese have a still more inhuman system of forcing dread-
fully strong green tea upon their victimised guests, equally void
of sugar or milk ; a succession of which cups of tea, if continued
for the space of a week, would reduce the strongest-nerved man
in Europe into a state of nervous debility, and cause him to
start at the squeal of a mouse, as a. lady would at the report of
a cannon. We should have fallen victims to this species of
barbarity on the present occasion, had not H.'s servant had the
forethought to provide against such an emergency, by bringing
a tin canister with him full of sugar-candy.

Now, then, to explore the ruins of the ruined city of Yuthia.
First we come to two stones, one above another, and a small
piece of burnt timber, evidently the remains of some house
that had caught fire. A few more paces, and we find
half a ruined wall, and a lizard (the latter bolted on our near
approach) ; more walls, more stones, more lizards, and then we

tumbled across a snake ! M made short work of him with

his gun. The report was the signal for a universal rustling
and squealing among the bushes near us. Quadrupeds and
bipeds and insects emerged from their retreat, and sought refuge
in every direction. A jackal and a cat were the next victims to
our guns. All this time we marked evident traces of the foun-
dations of houses that had once existed ; and the stumps of poles

144 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

driven fast into the ground led us to understand that these had
been the habitations of the poorer class, who, like those we
had seen at the village we slept at, had had houses exalted upon

lofty poles. Captain S picked up the leg of a little statue,

beautifully sculptured in marble ; but with this exception,
nothing worthy of note was found. We saw plenty of bones,
both of animals and human beings ; and as we approached a
rather suspicious-looking copse, round which tall grass grew in
wild luxuriance, we discovered the imprint of a rather suspi-
ciously-formed foot, which looked amazingly like a tiger's.
After examining this with due care, we came to the wise resolu-
tion of retracing our steps towards the fishing huts. " Where's

Mr. C ? " asked Mr. H , as he missed him from our side

all of a sudden. (C was the captain of a Bombay ship,

loading sugar at Bangkok.) We looked around in vain for the
missing man, till H.'s servant descried him in the distance,
tearing over the ground at his utmost speed on his way home.
The fact was, he had caught the ominous word tiger, and being
of a nervous temperament, had thought prudence the better
part of valour, and accordingly sought refuge in flight. Many

and many a hearty laugh H and I had together, in after

days, as we conjured up to memory's vision the truly ludicrous
figure the Portuguese skipper cut, as he fled from the supposed
vicinity of danger, leaving behind him, in his great hurry to be
safe, his gun, powder-horn, and shot-belt. We reached the old
Chinaman's hut in safety, and there put his services in requisi-
tion again for a ten o'clock breakfast.

The water of the Menam off Yuthia and its vicinity, is a great
deal shallower than it is at Bangkok, and only vessels of a
small tonnage could ever have been able to reach this capital.
Probably this disadvantage, in conjunction with the insalubrity
of the spot owing to the very marshy ground which lies on the
eastern bank and the construction of large Siamese govern-
ment vessels, was mainly contributable to the desertion of
Yuthia, and the formation of the modern capital of Bangkok.

ADVENTURE WITH AN ALLIGATOR. 145

Further up the river, however, where only small junks can lie,
the land is very highly cultivated, and some of the richest
sugar-plantations in the whole kingdom of Siam are there to "be
found.

Towards mid -day we saw several small alligators crawl
cautiously out of the water, and lie basking in the sun on the
muddy banks of the river. One small fellow, hardly three feet
in length, evidently a greenhorn, came out on the bank just
under the hut where we were sitting, and in the course of a few
minutes became so motionless that he was evidently having a
nap. H.'s servant, who was a daring fellow and could swim
like a fish, stole stealthily along the bank, and, suddenly seizing
its tail, with his main strength endeavoured to haul the creature
up on dry land. But Jack was as good as his master, and
better ; such surprising strength had the little brute, that with
a sudden violent lash of its tail, it sent the man spinning several
yards, and floored him regularly in the mud. I never saw any-
thing more neatly done : in one instant, the alligator was
fast asleep, and the Siamese making a gripe at its tail ; the
next, the alligator had disappeared in the water, and the
Siamese was on the flat of his back in the mud. Lucky it was
for the servant that he had fallen on mud, and not amongst
stones or shingles ; for such was the force with which he had
been thrown, that on extricating himself, with the assistance of
one of the boatmen, from his ignoble position, he had literally
left a deep impression of his head and shoulders in the clay.
They were obliged to draw water from the river in chatties
(earthen water jugs) for the purpose of washing him clean
again ; and a precious operation they had to get all the mud out
of his hair, for, as ill-luck would have it, he chanced to be a
Burmese, and wore long hair like a woman. No one ever
thinks of venturing into the water in this part of the river, so
infested is it with alligators. The desolation of the spot, and the
very few boats that now navigate the river, have caused these
brutes to accumulate ; for I have been told that there was never

L

146

RESIDENCE IN STAM.

one seen in the flourishing days of Yuthia an assertion I can
readily believe, from the fact of the Siamese being as much in
the water as upon dry land ; and such an amphibious people
could never exist without being permitted to bathe at least
twice a day ; a thing they could not possibly do in a water
teeming with alligators.

Soon after noon, the tide began to serve in our favour ; so,
getting into the canoe once again, after a sojourn of nearly five
days amidst the ruins and jungles, the prairies and marshes,
the toops and quagmires of this least picturesque portion of the
river Menam, we bid adieu to Yuthia and the old Chinese cook,
and so paddling merrily homeward, reached Bangkok just in
time to wash and dress, and partake of one of Mr. Hunter's
comfortable family dinners.

CHINESE COOK ON THE MENAM.

CHAKACTER OF THE SIAMESE.

147

CHAPTEE IX.

General character of the Siamese. General inoffensiveness of their disposition.
Their dress. Their passion for gambling. Smoking opium. Description of its
effects. Their skill as swimmers. Adventure of an American who could not
swim. Want of beauty in ladies of Siam. Use of betel-nut. Ceremonies at
birth of a child. Amusements of ladies in the higher ranks. Siamese women
excellent housewives. Education of children. Selling of daughters. General
summary of Siamese character.

HEBE is, perhaps, no other nation
on the face of the earth which
can be said to resemble, in their
tout ensemble, the Siamese. The
Malays have lent them their high
cheek bones and flat sprawling
noses ; the Chinese their eyes ;
the Burmese their stature ; and
their complexions and dispositions
have a melange of all these nations
put together. Of dwarfish stature,
though of herculean strength, the
Siamese yet possesses the meekness
of a lamb, and a great deal of its cowardice. Though his features
are cast in the Malayan mould, he possesses not one item of that
insatiable thirst for revenge which is so prevalent a feature in
the character of the latter people, and to gratify which they
will sacrifice twenty unoffending victims, if by so doing they
hope to convey one pang of bitter remorse to the soul of the
object of their hatred. Who does not know what that fearful

L 2

148 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

sentence "running a muck" means, when the Malay, in the
blind frenzy of his wrath rushes through streets, kreese in hand,
maiming and destroying every harmless individual that may
cross his path in his fiendish pursuit of revenge. Now, the
Siamese are a people incapable of retaining one spark of ani-
mosity ; and, during my stay at Bangkok, I do not remember a
single instance of seeing two Siamese come to blows, and seldom
even quarrel. They have been taught from their infancy to obey
and respect every grade, from the king to those just one degree
above them ; and, from their inferiors, they in their turn receive
that homage they pay to others ; hence, even were they so
disposed, opportunities seldom offer which would admit of a
dispute. If they be men of the lower order, such as servants,
&c., those whom they might consider their equals, from the fact
of their being of the same calling, never have sufficient liberty at
their command, or time on their hands, to admit of their meeting
together and conversing ; and as there are no public houses, those
dens where brawls generally originate, if per hazard they are left
together for a minute or two, they are too happy to embrace the
opportunity of having a little friendly chat, and have no time to
differ on any one single point. Their superiors they dare not
insult, under penalty of the bastinado, that ogre that hangs in
terror em over the heads of all people in Asia ; and, upon the same
principle, or rather from the same motives, their inferiors dare
not insult them.

The dress of the Siamese men of all classes varies only in
costliness. The rich men wear skirts of silk and embroidered
stuff, which reaches from the waist to the knees, the rest of the
body being de naturalibus. The poor men are clothed in coarse
cloth, sometimes dyed, but oftener in its original state. All
carry a light muslin shawl, which is flung carelessly over the
shoulders, while the end is fastened round the waist. The more
opulent men amongst the Siamese spend their days seated cross-
legged in the verandah of their little shops. They smoke and
drink tea almost incessantly, only varying their occupation by

HABITS OF THE SIAMESE.

149

eating when meal hours arrive. They seem to have constitution-
ally the appetite of a wolf ; for no man but a Siamese or a
Chinaman in Siam, could for a continuance of years smoke and

MAN AND WOMAN OF SIAM.

drink tea as they do, take no exercise at all, and yet be always
ready for their meals. That practice, so prevalent in the East, ot
asking just treble the value for the goods they dispose of, is
familiar to the Siamese merchants and shopkeepers ; but they do

150 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

not possess that sharp cunning and Jesuitical sophistry which is
so strongly delineated in both Jew and Gentile traffickers in the
East. The more opulent among the Siamese merchants and the
nobles and independent men of Bangkok, are strongly addicted
to gambling and smoking opium ; but, as both these vices are
prohibited by the king, and are amenable to a very heavy
penalty (the third conviction subjecting the culprit to transport-
ation for life), none dare indulge in them openly, or by daylight,
but so inefficient is the Siamese police, that Bangkok is replete
with gambling houses of all descriptions, and here nightly are to
be met numbers of the richest and most respected inhabitants,
the officers of state and noblemen included, staking immense
sums of money upon the turn-up of a single card. After a dozen
rounds have been played, the cards are put aside for a few
minutes, and opium pipes introduced. These pipes resemble
in form the common narghili, or hubblebubble, of the Levant.
They consist of an empty cocoa-nut shell, in an orifice on the top
of which a hollow wooden tube is inserted, and the opening
hermetically closed, so as to prevent the escape of either air or
smoke. In another hole in the side of the cocoa-nut shell, a
common little bamboo tube, about eighteen inches long, is tightly
fixed; a little earthen bowl, perforated at the bottom like a
sieve, is filled with opium, and one or two pieces of fire being
placed thereon, this bowl is placed on the top of the wooden
tube. The man who hands round this pipe holds with one hand
the bottom of the cocoa-nut (which is half full of water), and with
the other hand he presents the bamboo tube to the smoker, who,
putting it to his mouth, inhales three or four whiffs of this most
intoxicating and deleterious narcotic. The effect is almost
instantaneous. He sinks gently against the cushion set at his
back, and becomes perfectly insensible to what is passing around.
From this state of torpor, after the lapse of a few minutes, he as
gradually begins to recover, and in about five minutes time he is
ready and fit to resume the game again. The pipe is passed
round from mouth to mouth, so that half an hour generally

HABITS OF THE SIAMESE. 151

intervenes between the first whiff taken by the first smoker, and
the last sigh heaved by the last man, as he indicates his revival
from that Elysium of bliss, that short, pleasant dream, from
which he is gradually awaking. One old, inveterate opium
smoker told me, that if he knew his life would be forfeited by
the act, he could no more resist the temptation than he could
curb a fiery steed with a thread bridle. It carried him into the
seventh heaven ; he heard and saw things no tongue could
utter, and felt as though his soul soared so high above things
earthly, during those precious moments of oblivion, as to have
flown beyond the reach of its heavy, burthensome cage. How-
ever true all this may have been, however ecstatic the enjoy-
ment, the tremulous voice and palsied frame, the deep-sunken,
glassy, unmeaning eyes, spoke volumes as to the direful effects of
the system upon the frame ; and, however much soul, or how-
ever buoyant spirits may have lighted up the tabernacle while
under such excitement, there was evidently but a faint spark of
vitality left within. At other times, and a few more whiffs,
a few more pleasant, glorious dreams, and that last spark would
be extinct, and nought but darkness dwell within that lifeless
trunk, which had revelled its glorious light away.

" Where lias the brightness fled

That lighted up your eye ?
Where have both thought and spirit fled,

The smile, the tear, the sigh ?
The rippling waters answer ' hush,'

As gently the beach they lave,
' If mortals upon their fate will rush,

They meet it in the grave.' "

The lower orders of the Siamese have their time too much
occupied, and are luckily too poor to admit of their indulging in
the excesses of their richer countrymen. Such as are servants
are busily engaged about their master's affairs ; boatmen are
paddling from morning till night and are too glad to avail them-
selves of the hours of repose in a little friendly chat with their
own families and neighbours ; they go to roost with the fowls and

152 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

turn out with the crows ; and the consequence is that they are a
robust, healthy people, their only cares in life being food and
sleep, for sickness very seldom troubles them. All the Siamese,
high and low, rich and poor, wear their hair in a most grotesque
and fantastical fashion ; the whole of the head is shaved with
the exception of a little tuft of hair just over the forehead, which
is permitted to grow bolt upright, and has a striking resemblance
in shape to a cock's comb. They are all inveterate smokers, and
as I have before stated, commence at a very early age to smoke,
often before they have entirely relinquished the mother's breast.
No man or woman in Siam ever thinks of assisting another that
has had the misfortune to be upset ; without a single exception
they are all expert swimmers, and the first art into which a child
is inculcated is the art of self-preservation in the water, and both
men and women excel in this. A very serious accident to an
American missionary was very nigh resulting from this indiffer-
ence on the part of the Siamese to assist others in distress. It
often happens that Europeans who have been some time resident
in Siam paddle themselves about the river both for amusement
and exercise, but none should ever attempt this pastime who
cannot swim, at least a little, for be sure if any accident happens
none will come to your assistance. Brother Jonathan, however,
despite the many warnings given him, and the alarming prece-
dent of a missionary having been in reality drowned not much
more than a year before he made the attempt, must needs try
his skill at paddling also, and of all hours in the twenty-four
fixed on seven p.m. for the experiment, a time when the river is
most busy, as every one is returning home for the night, and
when objects are scarcely discernible, as by half-past seven all
the year round it is entirely dark at Bangkok. The result of
this rash essay was, that just as he had got about three hundred
yards from his house, the canoe jolted up against the cable of a
ship, and in one instant was overturned. Jonathan, who could
no more swim than a stone could, had instinct enough, however,
to cling to the canoe, and it and the luckless man floated down

HABITS OF THE SIAMESE. 153

with the tide. In vain did the unhappy missionary shout and
implore for aid, each time he opened his mouth gallons of water
rushed down his throat, so he came to the wise resolution of
holding his peace and trusting to Providence. By a most fortu-
nate circumstance Mr. Hunter happened to be coming in an
opposite direction in his large canoe, and passed close to the
drowning missionary ; it was now almost perfectly dark, and he
would have passed on without paying the slightest attention to
so common a sight as a capsised canoe, knowing that the Siamese
never require any assistance, as they swim with their boats up
to the first vessel they come across, and there laying hold of the
ship's cable with one hand, with the other right the canoe ; but
his attention was attracted to something of monstrous dimensions
floating behind him, and this he at once recognised to be one ot
those huge blue felt American hats which all the missionaries
wore for better protection against the sun ; immediately backing
his canoe, he picked up the luckless being more dead than alive,
and conveyed him to his house where, under the attention of
Doctor Bradley of the mission, he was very soon put all to rights
again.

The Siamese ladies may without the smallest fear of competi-
tion proclaim themselves to be the ugliest race of females upon
the face of the globe. With their hair worn in the same fashion
as the men, the same features, same complexion, and same
amount of clothing, the man must be a gay Lothario indeed who
would be captivated by their leering glances ; but as though nature
had not formed them sufficiently ugly, these most neglected of
all the human species, resort to dyes wherewith to dye their
teeth and lips of a jet black colour. The darker the teeth the
more beautiful is a Siamese belle considered ; and in order that
their gums should be of a brilliant red to form a pleasant
contrast to the black lips and teeth, they resort to the pleasant
pastime of chewing betel from morning till night. This betel
consists first, of the green leaf of the betel, which has a very
tart flavour, something like the leaf of the pepper plant ; hi this

154

EESIDENCE IN STAM.

leaf is placed a piece of chunam (the common lime used for
building), then a bit of the betel-nut is broken into small
pieces, and placed on the chunam, and the leaf being rolled up
into something very much like a sailor's quid, is then thrust

SIAMESE WABBIOB.

into the lady's cheek, and is munched and crunched and
chewed so long as the slightest flavour is to be extracted, and
as they never swallow the juice the results are very detrimental
to the cleanliness of the floors of the houses, and of themselves

HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE SIAMESE. 155

generally. They commonly make use of two such quids during
the day, and this horrid mixture has the effect of dyeing their
gums and the whole of the palate and tongue of a blood red
colour. Old crones, and very ancient chronoses (for both men
and women use the betel), who have no longer any teeth to
masticate this horrid mixture with, are attended by servants
who have a species of small pestle and mortar always about
them wherein they reduce the betel into a proper form for
the delicate gums of their aged patrons.

Both men and women in Siam marry young, and are conse-
quently prematurely old; a man of twenty-five may be the
father of eight or nine children, and the mother of this lot be
only perhaps twenty-three. There is a curious anecdote told
of the Chinese, for the truth of which, however, no one has yet
been able to vouch. They say when a Chinese lady is blessed
with an increase to her family, from the moment of her accouche-
ment the unhappy husband is put to bed also, and there
detained for forty days, and during this delightful penance he
is subjected to all the rigorous treatment of his better half.
Should medicine be administered to her, he must partake of it
also, and he is strictly confined to the same diet that she is
obliged to undergo, which consists on an average, I believe,
of about a thimbleful of cream of rice, administered every
three hours, to say nothing of the pill at bedtime to prevent
indigestion. Be that as it may, in Siam they expose a woman
to an ordeal quite as unnecessary as that which the unhappy
Chinaman is forced to go through.

No sooner is an heir or heiress born to some happy parent
than a wood fire is lit in the room, the windows are carefully
closed, and the door left only just so much open as to admit of
the smoke, after freely circulating in the room, to make its final
exit ; this fire is carefully kept lit during a fortnight, and the
motives adduced for this smoking process is, that the smell of
fire will deter a certain old gentleman who has too much of it
at home from passing into the room, and thus preserve the life of

156 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

both mother and infant. I saw the wife of one of Mr. Hunter's
own servants, in a cottage close to his house, exposed to this
ordeal and can therefore vouch for its veracity.

The wives of the nobles and higher classes amuse themselves
during the, to them, tedious hours of the day, as most Oriental
women of the higher classes generally do ; they fritter the long
hours of the day away in gathering flowers, making bouquets
and wreaths, singing love-songs and lamentations in a veritable
woeful strain, dancing to the music of empty gourds strung as
guitars, telling and listening to fabulous tales, lolling listlessly
under shady trees, and ruminating on what is next to be done,
chewing betel leaves, blackening their teeth, and admiring
themselves in mirrors that reflect too faithfully their frightful
faces. Orientals universally seem to possess but two exciting
topics of conversation the one about money, the other about
food ; their ideas beyond this are limited, they roll round with
the world and are content so to do blindfolded, provided the two
essential requisites of life are to be had. They know the day only
as a time allotted to them to eat, drink, and earn money ; and the
night they acknowledge as an appointed time of rest ; beyond
this, few permit their imaginations to stray. What the sun is,
or how the glorious light of day is derived, why rain falls at
certain seasons, and the night-dew at others, how flowers and
trees thrive and blossom and put forth green leaves, and yield
luscious fruit, where the young bright birds of glorious plumage
find a home and the wherewithal to satisfy their cravings, what
the cool zephyr blows for, and seas, and oceans, and rivers in
continual motion, foam, and leap, or ripple calmly in the sunlight
these are all themes far beyond the grasp of their dormant
imaginations. They walk through life blindfolded, turning neither
to the left nor to the right, nor ever digressing one inch from
the monotony of their every-day life, unless it be to pick up a
piece of silver or a morsel of bread. In some eastern countries
dress occupies the attention of the younger portion of either
sex, and there are exquisites and elegants to be found ; but in

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. 157

Siam even this is laid aside, as what little clothing they wear
never alters in its pattern, though it may in design and colour.
The only time a Siamese female may be said to be decently clad
is when she is married, and then for the first time in her life
she is covered from head to foot in gaily coloured muslins and
veils, her face is hid from public gaze, and three days elapse
ere she returns to her pristine simplicity of costume ; this is
the only period during her lifetime that she is thus attired.
There is a period when her face is again shrouded and her form
enveloped in long white drapery, but few would like to raise
her veil and gaze upon the fearful mystery that dwells in her
face ; it is when the spirit has fled to that long home, " where
the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest"

The Siamese women though utterly devoid of any moral
principle are, to do them justice, excellent housewives; they toil
from sun-rise to sun-down for their husbands and children,
cooking, washing, sweeping, and employed upon sundry other
household jobs ; sometimes they ply the needle for a short time,
but this is an accomplishment very rare indeed. The wives of the
poorer class of boatmen are often toiling all day, paddling a
heavily laden canoe up and down the river, striving to earn a
few pence, or fuangs, as the small Siamese money is termed, by
disposing of their vendibles, be they vegetables, betel-nut, or
poultry. The first thing on awaking at early morn, they may
be seen disporting in the river, swimming and diving like water
fowl, and the last thing at night before retiring to rest, they
bathe in the river again. Some days when the heat is very
oppressive they go into the water in the middle of the day, and
whether there be twenty or two hundred spectators it makes
small odds to them, so utterly callous are they to all feelings of
propriety and decency. Children so soon as they have been
taught to swim, and are efficient in this art, which seems to
come naturally to this amphibious people, are initiated in the
science of paddling ; and for this purpose, every father of a
family has a little bit of a canoe attached to his establishment,

158 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

with a paddle of proper proportions ; then the father gets into
his own canoe and paddles away, and the child enters his dimi-
nutive canoe and follows in his track, for all the world like a
young duck learning to swim. The time when broods of these
may be seen upon the river is between one and two o'clock,
when pretty nigh all Bangkok are having their siesta. Children
having acquired these two indispensable attainments namely,
swimming, and paddling canoes are then separated, and set
about their different vocations in life. The boys are taught all
kinds of athletic games, and especially that wonderful Siamese
game of battledore and shuttlecock. After this they are per-
mitted, for a year or two, to attend at the watts every day, and
there, under the tuition of the priests, acquire some faint notion
of their mother-tongue. After this they are launched into life
on their own responsibility, the fortune bestowed upon them by
the father consisting of a canoe and some paddles, and perhaps a
small trifle in money. From this date the boy never sleeps under
the paternal roof again, unless in after years by chance or accident ;
and, somehow or other, they all make their way through life.
I never saw a Siamese inhabitant begging for a morsel of
bread, the priests always excepted ; and then it can no longer
be called pauperism, as what they get from door to door is a tax
levied on the people, by approbation of government, for the
support of the church.

The girls remain at home under the tuition of their mothers,
who, while they sadly neglect their moral training, give them a
quiet homely education in all the branches of Siamese house-
wifery. They have generally become adepts in this art by the
time they are eight years of age, and then they are packed off in
canoes to sell all kinds of vendibles, and paddle for miles up
and down the river from rnorn till night ; and sometimes, if
they have been unsuccessful in their day's sales, these poor girls
are kept on the river till past midnight ; and, tired and worn,
perhaps even without food, the supplicating tone of their voices,
as they invite purchasers, is heart-rending in the extreme. The

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN. 159

long and short of it is, that Siamese husbands and wives, and
parents and children, possess only a kind of animal instinct, or
magnetism, which creates a sensation towards each other
almost amounting to friendship, but that holy thing, love, is
unknown amongst them ; as well it may be, for how could so
much impurity be caged up with so fair and spotless an
emotion 1 So soon as a girl has attained the age of twelve she
is married, and then the parents wash their hands of her for
ever ; but should no suitor be forthcoming, she is allowed a
year's time, and opportunities to gain one. At the expiration of
this period, if her efforts have been futile, as is, alas ! too often
the case, she is then taken by her father to his own shop, and
there sold to the highest bidder that may appear within a
month's time. Whether, in this state of serfdom, she will be
kindly or basely used, whether the father will ever set eyes on
his daughter again, is a feeling that never suggests itself to his
cold and callous heart. I cannot believe it possible that the
women are so utterly void of all maternal feelings ; but of the
fathers' want of humanity I have too often had ocular demon-
stration, while plying to and fro upon the river Menam. He
regrets, certainly, that she was not married, for then his
daughter could have had no ulterior claims upon his hospitality ;
but now, in case of the death of him to whom he has ruthlessly
sold her, or in the event of his being obliged to leave the capital,
she must fall back upon his hands, and then ten to one if he is
ever able to dispose of her again. Yet, strange to say, not-
withstanding this unnatural state of affairs, I seldom heard
of a Siamese ill-treating or quarrelling with his wife ; and
should daughters that have been sold into serfdom fall back
upon his hands, they are kindly and gently treated, even though
their age forbids all hopes of their ever being turned into gold
again. Such, however, is not the treatment of the unhappy
girls who oftentimes fall to the lot of Arab merchants from
Bombay and the Eed Sea, who are residing for commercial pur-
poses at Siam. These often maltreat their unhappy slaves in

160

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

the grossest manner ; and their cruelties have sometimes reached
to such a pitch, that, "watching their opportunity, the girls have
fled, and sought refuge and protection in the houses of the
missionaries. But these instances of inhuman treatment have
invariably been traced to the sons of Islam, residing at
Bangkok. Neither Siamese, Burmese, Malabars, nor even
Malays, have ever been convicted of similar atrocities. The
sons of the Prophet, entertaining an innate hatred against all
professing any other creed than their own, and especially
incensed against idolaters, such as the Siamese are, wreak the
whole fury of their vengeance upon the unoffending heads of the
hapless victims that fall beneath their sway, by being purchased
with gold.

Upon the whole, I found the Siamese a civil, humble, and
willing people, wrapped in the grossest ignorance and super-
stition, and lost to all sentiments of moral virtue ; but a reform
on this score can never be hoped, till they have been made
partakers of " the benefits of knowledge and the blessings of
religion."

DISPUTE WITH COCHIN CHINA.

161

CHAPTEE X.

Dispute between Governments of Siam and Cochin China. Confiscation of Siamese
vessels in Cochin China ports. Reprisals. Fury of the King of Siam. His
councils always held at night. Army sent to frontiers. Ship of war " the Cale-
donia" ordered for sea. Author put in command of two hundred and fifty
marines. Character and discipline of the Ship's crew. Cruel instructions given
to the Officers. Encounter a severe storm. Ship nearly lost. Curious
adventures of a cargo of Sugar on board. Return of Vessel.

OON after I entered
the Siamese service, a
misunderstanding took
place between the
Siamese government
and the Prince of
Cochin China, arising
from the ill-treatment
by the Siamese soldiery
of some merchants of
the latter nation. Mat-
ters could not be ami-
cably arranged, because
the Cochin Chinese were
evidently the aggrieved
parties, and demanded, very justly, that
ample reparation and satisfaction be given
to the sufferers. The Siamese government,
ignorant, as it was proud, and imagining
its land and sea forces to be invincible so
long as they kept within the limits of the Siamese

] RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

territory, or within the bounds of the Gulf of Siam, treated the
affair with contempt and insult, and in direct opposition to the laws
of even barbarians, incarcerated the unfortunate ambassador and
the whole of his suite, with the exception of one man, who was
conducted back to the frontiers of his own country, and there
set at liberty that he might proceed to head-quarters and report
progress. This man was also entrusted with a fulminating letter
from the king himself, in which war was openly declared, and
many significant threats held out, the least amongst which was,
that the potentate of Cochin China might expect if he persisted
in sending annoying messages to the kingdom, of the "White
Elephant, to find himself in a very short space of time a par-
taker of the unfortunate doom that his luckless ambassador was
suffering.

It so happened, that at the period when this intelligence
reached the imperial court in Cochin China, several Siamese and
Chinese trading junks were loading at the various sea ports on
the coast for China, Siam, and Singapore. All which sailed
under the Siamese flag were immediately seized and confiscated ;
and the unfortunate crews of these Vessels having been first
heavily laden with chains, were 'employed with common
criminals in repairing the roads, cutting away forests, breaking
stones, and other useful, but by no means agreeable pastimes.
The fate of these vessels was in due course reported at Bangkok
by the arrival of a Bombay sugar ship from Singapore, where
the information had been gleaned from a Chinese junk that had
arrived from Cochin China. Nothing could exceed the fury of
the king on learning this intelligence, he held nightly councils of
war, which all the noblemen and statesmen residing at Bangkok

were compelled to attend. Mr. H , from his position as a

peer of the realm, was included in the number, nor would the
king on any condition dispense with his presence, as he placed
more implicit faith in his sage advice and arguments, than the
whole of the others put together. This, though a flattering
compliment to H , was by no means an agreeable one ; for,

EXPEDITION AGAINST COCHIN CHINESE. 168

what with his own occupations during the day, which were
often manifold and harassing, and the king's interests to
attend to at night, he scarcely had one hour's rest during the
twenty-four, the whole time this political litigation lasted.
Finally, it was determined to bombard by sea some of the prin-
cipal sea-port towns, at the same time that a vast army of
somewhere about eighty thousand men, was to assemble on the
Cochin Chinese frontiers, it having been rightly conjectured, as
the sequel proved, that such a formidable display would instil
terror into the hearts of the, at all times, timid inhabitants of
Cochin China. This large army was to be under the joint com-
mand of two very celebrated generals, though for what they were
celebrated, I could never distinctly understand, except it be that
they had on one occasion outrun the whole of the army in a
rather precipitate retreat made from the invading forces of a
rebel chief, who, with less than half the number under his
command that they had at their disposal, whipped them to their
heart's content, and sent them flying to Bangkok for further
succour. Nevertheless, they had obtained the name and dignity
of being distinguished warriors, and were consequently chosen
for this particular purpose. Captain Middleton was ordered to
prepare the "Caledonia" immediately for sea, and I was ordered to
join his ship, in command of two hundred and fifty marines such
marines as only those semi-barbarous countries could furnish,
and about as much skilled in the art of war as a cannibal
islander might be in trigonometry. However, they had very
smart dresses; and very fine muskets and side arms ; and, as
they had been drilled to stand straight and to march, they cut a
pretty good figure on board, except when the vessel was rolling
or pitching. On such occasions, it was by no means an uncom-
mon event to pick up the sentry somewhere in the lee scuppers,
and his musket behind the caboose (or cook's galley). It was
a mercy that the cook never got shot, after the repeated unin-
tentional attempts made at his life ; for the impetus with which
some of the muskets alighted on the deck (with their muzzles

M2

164 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

pointed right into the galley door), was an all-sufficient shock
to make them go off of their own accord, and they were always
loaded with ball cartridge. Middleton had a singularly rare
collection of sailors. Amongst the ship's valiant crew there were
Manilla-men, Malays, Gentoos, Malabars, a few Arabs, and a
sprinkling of Siamese. The Manilla-men and the Malays were
excellent sailors, and so were a few of the Siamese ; but, as
for the rest, they could no more distinguish one rope from
another, than they could prevent themselves from being dread-
fully sea-sick. We were not allowed to carry more than the
upper tier of guns, because His Majesty thought fit to make this
a profitable expedition in a pecuniary way as well as in a
political sense, and we were obliged to land all the " 'tween deck"
guns, as also some of the upper tier, to allow of the ship being
laden with sugar by an Arab merchant, who, having received
intelligence of a great rise in the sugar market at Bombay, had
offered the government a very high freight to permit him to
send the sugar to Singapore, to be there trans-shipped on board
of a vessel that would be immediately freighted to carry it on to
Bombay. The old Arab taking all the risks of insurance upon
himself.

The offer was too good to be refused, and we were therefore
exposed to the ignominious necessity of proceeding direct to
Singapore with a cargo of sugar ; after discharging which and
ballasting, we were to cruise for a couple of months off the coast
of Cambogia, and as far as Pulo Obi, occasionally running in and
heaving to off a town, and giving it the benefit of three or four
stunning broadsides. Particular orders were given to the captain
to watch the movements of such Cochin Chinese junks as might
be lying off Singapore, and to dodge them if possible into the
China Sea, and there give them chase. One thousand tikols in
silver being the reward held forth to the captain for every such
junk captured, and five hundred was to be my share of prize
money. I must do Middleton the justice to say that it was
his firm determination from the very commencement to act in

A EOYAL SALUTE. 165

direct contradiction to his orders as regarded the junks ; his
intention having been to give them every possible chance of
escaping, not only on account of the unrighteousness of the act
towards the owners of the cargo and the vessel, but also as it
regarded the innocent crews of these junks, who would, if taken
to Bangkok, undergo every hardship and cruelty that barbarity
could inflict. Things were soon completed, the cargo shipped,
and the vessel reported ready for sea ; but before leaving the
river, Capt. M. got the royal permission to fire a salute before
quitting his Majesty's floating city. Every Englishman in the
place was on board, ships' crews and all, to assist us in this
mighty undertaking, as also in getting the vessel unmoored.
When the firing commenced, it was the best fun imaginable to
see the Manilla gunners trying to get their gangs into something
like ship-shape order, for the moment a match was presented to
a touch-hole, they took to their heels and fled to that part of the
vessel which was furthest from the spot ; nor could the Serang's
lash or the Tindal's oaths induce them to budge one inch till the
smoke had fairly cleared away. Notwithstanding all these
drawbacks, the salute was fired with admirable precision, thanks
to the assistance rendered by the British tars on board. At
length we took leave of our kind and hospitable hosts, and other
friends at Bangkok ; and with a list of commissions large
enough to consume a moderate fortune, all of which we were to
be sure and execute at Singapore, and very many prayers for
our safety from the old Arab merchant who had shipped the
sugar, we sailed down the river with a spanking breeze and
strong tide in our favour ; and made such progress down, that
we cleared the bar at daylight next morning, and leaving the
pilot on board a junk outside the river, set all imaginable sail,
and were soon scudding along at the rate of ten miles an hour,
with a breeze as favourable as it could be, direct for Singapore.
This kind of weather lasted us for two days and a night, and
then the wind began to veer round in a directly contrary
direction, with every appearance of a thorough change in the

166 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

weather ; and tlie heavy banks of clouds on the horizon right
a-head, indicating something that looked rather suspiciously like
a coming hurricane, or a China Sea typhoon. The heavy swell
of the sea as it rolled in mountainous waves towards the
Cambogian shore, the high land of which was now in sight,
made the vessel pitch and roll most woefully. As the evening
closed in the breeze entirely ceased, and then the heavy-laden
vessel became quite unmanageable. Captain M., who had left
both his lieutenants behind ; one to assume command of a little
four-gun brig, which was also ordered for service ; and the
other, in a bed of sickness, was left entirely at the mercy of the
Manilla seacunies, or helmsmen, for the steering of the vessel, and
to the adroitness of the Malayan Serang and Tindal, to see all
necessary orders promptly executed ; for the swell of the sea
was so great, that the vessel was in danger of rolling her masts
overboard. In this dilemma I was pressed into the service,
and had to perform the duties of an officer of the ship during
the rest of this most disastrous voyage ; a birth that was by no
means a sinecure, but which I cheerfully accepted, partly from
the esteem I had for the captain, as noble a fellow as ever trod a
ship's deck, and partly from a wish to acquire nautical know-
ledge ; for I had before this period been to sea professionally,
and was then passionately attached to a seafaring life. The first
thing done was to lash the guns with treble lashings. The lower
and topmast riggings were then set up by means of what sailors
call Spanish windlasses ; royal and top-gallant yards were sent
down, and the top-gallant masts struck and housed ; the top-
sails were close reefed, and the fore-sail single reefed ; preventer
backstays were passed from the fore and main top-mast, and
the jib-boom was well secured. Things being made snug and
comme il faut, the whole of the crew were summoned aft, and
divided into two instead of four watches, as had heretofore been
the regulation. Captain M. and the boatswain's mate com-
manded the starboard watch, myself and the boatswain the
larboard ; but, in point of fact, poor M. never was off watch.

CALM IN THE CHINA SEAS. 167

During the daytime he had snatches of repose, lying on a sofa
in the cabin ; but at night in bad weather he was never below.
Midnight approached, and the calm still continued ; not a breath
stirred in the Heavens ; but the swell went on increasing in
violence, and the vessel rolled gunwales under. Many of the
crew, who were quite griffins at sea, began to evince evident
symptoms of sea-sickness, and as the watch struck the hour
of midnight on the great booming bell of the ship, the last
available marine sunk down by the side of the starboard
gangway in a state of most deplorable debility from the effects
of the rolling of the vessel. Yes ! his Siamese Majesty's
detachment of royal Siamese marines, under the command of
the reader's humble servant, the author, were, at ten minutes
after twelve on that eventful night, decidedly hors de combat !

During the whole of that long dark night, the intense calm
was unbroken. The cables, which were unbent from the
anchors and stowed away on the first morning of our departure,
were again dragged forth by lantern-light, and bent on afresh.
The anchors were cleared, so as to be let drop at a moment's
warning ; and though we could not see ten yards beyond the
ship, we knew, from the direction in which the swell was
running, that the vessel had been drifting on a lee-shore the
whole twelve hours of the night, and morning was never more
anxiously looked for. About a quarter of an hour before day-
break we had a cast of the deep sea lead, and then, to our great
concern, we discovered that we were fast getting into shoal-
water ; a sad fact, which was soon after confirmed to us by the
distinct roaring of the waves, as they broke upon the distant
shore. Here was a precious predicament ! Not wind enough
even to give the vessel steerage way, and the ship rapidly
approaching a dangerous coast, where, if we escaped being
drowned or dashed to pieces amongst the rocks, we should only
survive to become the prisoners of a cruel people, who were at
all times noted for their barbarous treatment of captives, and
who, at this particular period, were much exasperated against the

168 RESIDENCE IN STAM.

Siamese, and all in any way connected with them. All hands
were turned out to be ready to let go the anchors ; and as day
broke we came to in fifteen fathoms water, with two anchors,
and a hundred and thirty fathoms of cable on the bitts his
Siamese Majesty's detachment of marines being still decidedly
hors de combat. With what fury that sea swept wildly by us
rearing up its foamy crest, and occasionally sweeping the vessel
right fore and aft ! With what violence would the waves lash,
and thump, and tug at our poor ship, endeavouring to drag her
with them on their headlong, heedless, fearless race, to per-
dition ! and then, in sullen anger, trumpet forth their disap-
pointed rage, as some unshakeable rock burst their fury, and
sent them whining and foaming far up into the air in million
particles of snow-white froth ! These are things only to be felt
when seen. No painter's brush no poet's song no earth-
inspired scribe could even trace one faint resembling outline of
the sad majestic reality of such a scene. Morning broke, and
daylight spread her light mantle over the earth and sea. It
was not so fair and brilliant as it was wont to be on a brighter,
calmer summer's morning ; but still it shed that mysterious,
blessed light through which the human eye could clearly pene-
trate, and the hidden dangers of the night became revealed.
We looked ahead the ship's bows to the waves, and on the wide
expanse of ocean nothing but restless billows met the view ; but
from their violent and continued conflict it was clearly indicated
that the long-looked-for hurricane had reached that spot, and
was now madly sporting with the waves. A high headland
to windward, past which we had most miraculously drifted in
the night, as yet kept the gale from reaching us ; but it was
evident that, in a very few minutes' time, the whole fury of the
tempest would burst over our devoted vessel, and, in all proba-
bility at the very first onset, part her from her anchors, and
send us with fearful velocity amongst a long ledge of rocks
that ran parallel with the shore for many hundred yards. We
looked over the stern of the vessel high-peaked, lofty, towering

STORM IN THE CHINA SEAS. 169

hills, capped with the storm-cloud, and descending almost per-
pendicularly to the sea, were all to be seen on that side to cheer
us. To the southward of these was a gap in the mountain-
range, and the sea ran smooth upon the fine sandy beach ; but
on that beach were plainly discernible hundreds of little figures
running to and fro, and gesticulating to each other in a frenzy
of delight. They had discovered the vessel, and probably
guessed from whence she came, and their thirst for revenge and
pillage would now, they imagined, be soon amply gratified.
Now, although all this takes a long time to recount or write,
this sad survey of our position and chances was the work of a
few minutes, and our resolutions were as speedily taken. Were
we to slip, and run the ship aground in the spot where these
natives were congregated, the chances were, under any other
circumstances, that both our lives and the cargo would be
saved ; but though we had a large body of men on board, one-
half of them might have been knocked down with a feather,
they had suffered so severely from the effects of the sea ; and
the other half were too great cowards to make any resistance :
hence death, in some form or another, awaited us there. There
only remained, therefore, one last forlorn hope, that of being
enabled to catch the first puff of wind with all available canvas
set, and endeavour to beat the ship out to windward, at the risk
of sails and masts. If these stood we might be saved: if they went,
then adieu " Caledonia ! " and all that was left would be to take to
the boats, which, though we had six good ones, could hardly have
lived in such a sea as was then running. Accordingly, every-
thing was prepared to slip, and the Tboats kept ready and
supplied with water and bread, so that they might be used at
a moment's warning. The few minutes that elapsed between
this period and the time that the gale reached us, were moments
of awful suspense. All reefs had been shook out, and the sails
sheeted home. The first wild blast of the hurricane swept over
us like a demon in its might the vessel was on her beam-ends
for a few seconds the anchors were gone and righting slowly

170 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

again to her water-mark, just as everything seemed lost, and
the terrible reef was within range of rifle-shot, and shoot-
ing boldly out into the very midst of the tempest-tost
ocean, she sped along majestically, luffing well up into the
wind's eye, and bidding defiance to all the angry tumults
of the elements "Thank God we're saved," said Middleton, who
was at the helm, as he felt the barque, obedient to his unerring
arm, answer the rapid movements of the wheel, and just as these
words had died away we passed safe through all the noisy, angry
strife of wind and waters. Those high mountains of Cambogia,
echoing the cry from vale to vale, brought to our listening ears
the faint and distant, yet too distinct whoop of disappointed
revenge uttered by that horde of marauding cut-throats on shore,
who had been speculating on our lives and property. The
further we got from the shore the more violent the hurricane
blew, but, as the sequel proved, fortunately for us, the gale
veered round a couple of points in our favour, so that under
close-reefed topsails and a storm staysail, we were enabled to
make a very long stretch on the starboard tack. It rained, it
blew, it thundered, it lightened, but still the brave ship sped
onward on her course, and for six-and-twenty hours not a sail
was trimmed or a rope touched. After this lapse of time the gale
still continuing with unabated fury, we sighted some portion of
the Malay peninsula, and immediately put the ship about on
our losing tack : we had been two days on this tack, and had not
got half across the gulf when the morning watch discovered that
a great quantity of sugar was being pumped up with the bilge
water, from which it was evident that the ship had proved
leaky in some part. Luckily for us, on this tack she had made
so much leeway that we were now nearly in the same parallel
of latitude as we were when lying at anchor off Cambogia. The
pumps were sounded and eight feet water in the hold reported ;
in ten minutes we sounded again, and the leak had increased
six inches, and by daylight, though the pumps were kept con-
tinually at work, we had fourteen feet water in the hold, and the

RETURN OF THE CALEDONIA.

171

leak was fast gaining upon us. Now indeed had our misfortunes
come to a crisis ; we had no hope or nothing to strive for except
to put the ship right before the wind, and run direct for the
mouth of the river. This was very soon accomplished, and then
as the pumps were insufficient to keep the vessel from settling
and going down bow foremost, the hatches were all unbattened,
and every bucket in the ship put into requisition. Men were
placed in the 'tween decks and handed up bucketsful of water to
others on deck, and as for the poor old Arab's sugar, not one
grain of it was left from one end of the ship to the other ; it had
all melted away and formed a nasty saccharine mixture of salt
water and sugar. Even the buckets were not sufficient to keep
the leak from gaining on us, and large wash deck tubs were
swung to the back-stays, and separate gangs kept to haul them
up and heave the water overboard, and his Siamese Majesty's
detachment of Eoyal Siamese Marines had this congenial task
allotted to them. They were no longer hors de combat, fear and
self-preservation had effectually cured them of sea-sickness, and
they worked with indefatigable zeal. We had set the ship
before the wind at three o'clock in the morning, by twelve we
had the satisfaction of finding that our efforts to keep the leak
under were successful, as only twelve feet water was reported
from the pumps ; and at five p.m. we ran the " Caledonia " slap
over the bar of Siam, and were off Paknam again, and in
smooth water just as the sun was setting. The leak now rapidly
diminished, from which it appeared evident that it must be in
some part of the bow of the vessel, rather high out of the water
through which the rolling waves forced an entrance. The gale
was still blowing, though with much greater moderation than out
at sea ; it suited our ends capitally, we sped up the river like a
steamer, and at eight o'clock next morning were anchored off
Mr. H.'s house at Bangkok, much to the amazement and alarm
of all parties concerned, who were surprised to see a deeply laden
vessel after a lapse of ten days, return again as light as a feather,
and towering high out of the water. The first care was to land

172 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

the guns, which endangered the ship's safety, as she had no
ballast in her ; the next was to inspect the leak, and then it was
discovered that a whole plank had sprung just above the water-
mark, and it was indeed a miraculous event that either the
vessel or ourselves ever reached Bangkok. Old Hadji Fattala
came on board to inquire how his sugar fared, and he found as
cleanly swept a hold as ever a ship could boast of. The old
fellow in the first outburst of his fury, swore that he would
prosecute both Middleton and myself, as the accident must have
occurred through our negligence, and then he tore his beard out
by handfulls, and capered and danced round the deck after a
most grotesque fashion, pausing every now and then to mumble
forth maledictions against everybody who had led him into this
speculation, and finally he sat down and wept for the money that
was gone. It was impossible to help pitying the old fellow, but
had he been a little less avaricious, he might have shipped his
sugar in tubs and casks, and not in bulk, and thus, perhaps,
have saved one half the cargo. The " Caledonia " was docked
that very evening ; but before she proceeded down the river
she landed a great portion of her crew, his Siamese Majesty's
Royal Siamese Marines, and their Commander included, as also
the cook, who had so often been nearly shot, and who took
a vow that he would never sail with marines again, if they
gave him twenty times as much pay as he then received.
This was my first and last expedition to sea on active service.
A week afterwards I was transferred to the Siamese Cavalry
and attached to the Prince's body-guard, and the next day I
was placed upon the staff, as aid-de-camp to his Royal High-
ness the Prince Chou-Faa, an appointment that agreed with
my complaint amazingly, having plenty to get and little or
nothing to do, except walking about in a smart dress, with
chain straps and gilt spurs.

TRADE OF SIAM.

173

CHAPTEE XI.

Trade of Siam. Imports from China. Excellent quality of Tea. Sugar Candy,
Silks, Cloths, Ivory Carvings, Writing Paper, Toys, &c. Mode in which
business is transacted with Chinese Junks. All the crew owners and traders.
Harmony with which they manage their affairs. Imports from India. Meagre-
ness of Imports from Britain. Exports. System on which business is conducted.
Treatment of Bankrupts. Reasons for supposing that trade between Britain
and Siam could be greatly extended.

EEFECT information regarding the exact
quantities of the imports and exports of
Siam cannot be obtained, but a few
general remarks will be interesting
Siam imports annually from China a
vast quantity of the very best quality of
tea, infinitely superior to what I have
ever tasted in India,' the Straits ot
Malacca, or even in China itself. This
arises from the inhabitants of Bangkok, many of whom are of
Chinese origin, being such connoisseurs of the article itself, and
consuming such a large amount annually, that none but the very
finest quality will ever find a market at Canton or Macao. One
never tastes such tea as is to be found in the private houses of
Chinese gentlemen ; that which they export to Europe and to the
Indian Continent possessing not half the aroma of what is
consumed in China and Siam. China also supplies Bangkok
with sugar-candy, the Siamese being unable to make anything
that can approach it in transparency and sweetness. From
Macao and Canton are also brought elegantly wrought China

174 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

silks and satins, nankeens, grass cloth, tinsel, exquisitely carved
ivory fans, fine painted feather fans, rice paper, and colourings
upon rice paper, Japanese trays and tea-caddies, boxes of
ivory worked puzzles, elegant Mosaic cut silver card-cases,
bales of Chinese writing-paper, boxes of water-colours, cakes
of the finest Indian ink, and a vast deal of bird's nests, glues,
gums, pickles, and endless preserves, with a few straw hats,
and Chinese slippers. Immediately on arriving at Bangkok
the junks coming from China, which are often nearly fourteen
hundred tons burthen, spread a large awning fore and aft the
vessel, which is so arranged as to assume the form of the roof
of a house, the awning slanting off on either side of the vessel,
so as in case of rain, to carry the water over the sides and
prevent its penetrating to the decks ; this done, all hands are
busily employed erecting temporary stalls on either side of the
deck, in which samples of the articles imported for sale are
tastefully displayed so as to attract the visitor's attention ;
between these stalls, a wide passage is left to admit of the
passage to and fro of such as visit the junk to make purchases ;
and all things being prepared for public inspection, flags are
hoisted, and discordant gongs sounded to announce to the world
at large that they are now at liberty to gratify their curiosity
and spend their money. Almost every soul on board of these
junks has an interest in the vessel. They are owners, and
supercargoes, and sailors, and cooks, and sail-makers, and captains
by turns, and the cargo is usually entirely their own, each having
separate partitions in the hold wherein his articles of export
and import merchandise are stowed. Having accomplished the
arduous duties allotted to each during a tedious and often-
' times dangerous sea voyage, they are at the termination of
every trip metamorphosed into merchants or shopkeepers, and,
seated on low cane chairs opposite their respective shops, invite
customers to purchase by long laudatory harangues in favour
of their respective goods. Amongst other articles imported, and
one which I omitted to enumerate, is a great variety of really

CHINESE MERCHANT JUNKS. 175

very pretty and ingenious toys, such as carriages and carts, which
on being wound up like a watch, run for several minutes over
the floor to the no small delight of precocious children, who
generally soon put a stop to all movements in their thirst after
knowledge, which leads them to the investigation of the interior
of these toys, to the utter destruction of the fragile machinery.

Many of the goods imported are destined for the Singapore

market ; such, for instance, as the more richly- wrought silks and

satins, the ivory and feather fans, and some portion of the

preserves. In such a place as Bangkok, where the fashion is to

wear as little clothing as one possibly can, and where such a

thing as a tailor's bill was never heard of, the silks and satins

are of course in small requisition. There are no operas, or

theatres, or other places of public amusement, where the ladies

might sport fans ; and as for the preserves, the Siamese prefer

their own home-made delicacies to those brought from China ;

hence these articles would be a dead loss, were it not for

speculative merchants that trade with Singapore and Bombay ;

and these buy up such goods en masse, retailing them to their

correspondents at the two above-named places, to the tune of

somewhere about fifty per cent, nett profit. Seldom are these

Chinese junks long in the river before the whole of their import

cargoes are completely cleared away. The temporary stages

are then taken down ; each man prepares his portion of the

hold for the reception of such export goods as he thinks are

most suited for the China market. These outward cargoes are

either purchased, or have been bartered for ; and it is surprising

what a variety of articles are shipped on board the same junk,

hardly two amongst her many masters speculating in the same

commodity. This is a wise precaution adopted by the Chinese

on both their outward and homeward voyages ; it prevents

their interests clashing together, and excludes all possibility of

disputes or quarrels arising on this score. They live together

like one large family, each being happy and contented in his

own pursuits, and wishing and aiding one another to do their

176 RESIDENCE IN S1AM.

best, because no rivalry exists between them. The necessary
expenses of the vessel and of their maintenance are divided
equally, share and share, among them. I imagine the greatest
item in their bill for provisions must be pigs and ducks, for I
never yet was on board of a China junk that had not both
these members of what is termed the live stock in abundance.
During the whole period that a junk remains in the river, three
preventive officers are stationed on board to prevent the pos-
sibility of opium being smuggled into the capital ; but I have
reason to believe that these kind-hearted officers are often
blinded to the faults of those around them by the donation of
a couple or three Spanish dollars.

India and the Straits send to Siam a few drugs and common
cloths, such as Masulipatam manufactured cloth, palampoors
for bed-covering, common gingham, &c., and a large supply of
Turkey red cloth. The imports from Great Britain are very
meagre, being entirely confined to such goods as are received by
Messrs. Hunter and Hayes from Liverpool, and which, during
my stay at Bangkok, did not exceed about one thousand bales
per annum of manufactures and cotton twist. A vast field
is open for the introduction of these goods, and probably since
my departure from Bangkok more mercantile houses have
established themselves at that capital.

In exports, the business done by Siam is very great, and much
more could be done. Not fewer than twenty vessels left Bangkok
for Singapore and Bombay in 1841 entirely laden with sugar in
bulk, their measurement amounting to nearly four thousand
tons. Besides these, four vessels left for England direct with
assorted cargoes of teas, sugar, ivory, gamboge, dye-woods, lead,
spices, drugs, &c. ; and as for what was exported to China, the
one article of betel-nut alone must have yielded the revenue
a handsome income. But could inducements be offered to
European vessels to frequent this port ; had they a ready
market for the disposal of European merchandise (which the
jealousy of the Government interdicts, except to a very small

SIAMESE COMMERCE. 177

amount), and were the duties levied on vessels in the shape of
tonnage dues abated or done away with ; in short, were the
Siamese at liberty to lay open the great resources they have for
enriching the country, the Government, and the people, then
I may safely state that upwards of one thousand English vessels
might find ample occupation in trading to and from Siam, the
Indian continent, and Great Britain, the staple commodities of
sugar, rice, pepper, dye-woods and lead, being alone sufficient to
load more than half that number. That Siam contains many
rich mines of different metals which have been yet unexplored,
and that the interior may furnish many gums and other
rich produce as unknown to European markets as gutta-
percha was not many years since, I have not the slightest
doubt ; and were an expedition of scientific men permitted to
visit those parts of the kingdom as yet unexplored by a civilised
people, rich indeed would be the reward of those travellers in
the store of knowledge they would accumulate, and in the
additions that might be made to the various branches of
science.

Most of the commercial transactions of the merchants residing
at Bangkok amongst themselves and with known and respected
residents, are upon the system of tic, or credit, for longer or
shorter periods. Wholesale purchasers are allowed to have a
year's time to liquidate the amount, paying the sum in quarterly
instalments, and the shortest credit given is forty days. This
system of traffic is very detrimental to European merchants,
who experience the greatest difficulty in recovering debts due to
them when the period for payment arrives ; and fraudulent
bankruptcies are by no means of unfrequent occurrence. Mr.
H was obliged to employ several men, who acted as com-
mercial spies upon the creditors of the firm, and gave timely
notice of anything approaching to a shut up. On such infor-
mation being obtained, the measures adopted were stringent
and immediate ; the debtor was seized before he had the slightest
inkling of his roguery having been discovered ; his house, goods

178 BESIDENCE IN STAM.

and chattels, were taken possession of by the distraining creditor,
and he himself borne off to the palace of justice, where he was
immediately made to undergo every torture that human in-
vention could inflict, till he was at length very lothfully forced to
confess the exact amount of treasure he possessed a confession
which usually led to the discovery of the rogue having accu-
mulated far greater wealth than what was necessary to liquidate
his debts, but which he had skilfully concealed, in the hopes of
at some future period being enabled to quit the kingdom with his
ill-gotten wealth.

Situated as Siam is, between two great emporiums of British
commerce (I allude to Singapore and Canton), affording as it
does so many inducements for the establishment of friendly
intercourse, both with respect to export trade and to its
requisite consumption of British manufactured goods, as also
the fact of its being not only an excellent harbour of
refuge, but the only one in existence between China and
Singapore, it is much to be regretted that no binding and
equitable treaty, based on a liberal footing, exists between Her
Majesty's Government and the Court of Siam ; such a treaty as
might entitle our nation to the enjoyment of privileges, at once
a boon to the English, and no less conducive to the welfare of
the Siamese. This, however, was a desideratum not attainable
during the lifetime of the late despotic and superstitious
sovereign and his predecessors. These, too darkly ignorant to
appreciate what was most conducive to the increase of their
own wealth and importance, have invariably repulsed and
regarded in the light of an infringement upon their (in their
own opinions) enlightened sense and wisdom, any advances made
by foreign powers for the amelioration of their social condition
and the furtherance of traffic. Ever watching with a jealous
eye the prowess of British arms in the East, and terrified beyond
measure with the termination of the Chinese expedition in later
years, it was no part of the king's policy to encourage the advent
of speculative strangers into his territories, or in any way to

SIAMESE JEALOUSY OF STEANGERS. 179

countenance the frequent overtures made to him by the British,
French, and American Governments. In the king's private
estimation, amphibious Europeans, and more especially the
English, whose numerous vessels declared them to his fevered
imagination to be a people inhabiting the ocean, had only to set
eyes upon his extensive, rich, and fertile dominions, and his
sceptre would speedily pass from his sway. It was a thing
almost incredible, not only to the king, but to the Siamese
nation, that China, their elder brother, the nearest relation of
the sun, and the beloved country of the gods, should actually
be compelled to acknowledge themselves vanquished by people
hitherto estimated as barbarians, and compelled to yield portions
of their country, and disburse a plentiful amount of their dollars,
to a set of water rats who had, as if by magic, assailed their
country in vessels of all sizes and shapes ; their jealous and
wary precautions were then redoubled, every stranger looked
upon as a spy, and the quiet missionaries, who had for many
years resided in the harmless pursuit of their special avocations,
were watched with unwearying assiduity. It was never be-
lieved that the English could, without supernatural assistance,
have accomplished the marvellous feats they were reported to
have accomplished in China ; and what strengthened the
Siamese in this opinion was the existence of an electrifying
machine, an air-gun, and a few other to them incomprehensible
instruments in the possession of a peaceful American, whose
whole duty of life was the study of nature. One missionary,

Brother C , a species of catechist and schoolmaster, had

great suspicion attached to his name, from the singular propen-
sity he had of obtaining the sun's altitude by means of a false
horizon in a large bucket of tar, with the assistance of a time-
worn quadrant. Never a day passed, but what Brother C

might be seen rushing out bareheaded into the balcony of
his house, which overhung the river, gazing, as the natives
imagined, to all intents and purposes, into a vast vacancy. The
natives, naturally inquisitive to investigate the motives that

N 2

180 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

gave rise to so strange a freak, asked Brother C several

questions, to which he invariably replied that he was finding out
the exact minute of mid-day from the sun ; such an answer
being incontrovertibly proved to be the fact by such examples
as, for instance, a native watching the hour-hand of a clock,
hidden from the missionary's view, and hearing him proclaim
it mid-day, just as the hand pointed out the same hour, went

far with the Siamese to convict Brother C of sorcery ; and

these reports coming to the king's ears, there is little doubt
but that he would have been forcibly expelled from Bangkok,
had not the Praklan, or prime minister, by dint of much
patience and perseverance, explained to his grossly ignorant
Majesty the simple truths of the fact.

To such an extent was the suspicion of the Siamese monarch
awakened by late events, that though possessed of several
splendid ships of war, well armed and equipped, no persuasion
could induce him to permit of their making any sea voyages
which should extend further than the , limits of the Siamese
Gulf, with the exception only of Singapore, and an occasional
visit to China. He preferred that they should rot for months
together in the sweet waters of the Menam, rather than that
they should risk being seen by the falcon eye of some British
cruiser. He had no idea of impartial justice, and weighed others
in the same scale with himself and the Cochin-Chinese.

The Prince Chou-Faa, who is reported to have succeeded to
the throne, is the very antithesis of his royal predecessor ; for
though born amidst savages, or at least a semi-civilised people,
he possesses an innate love of literature, of religion, and science.
He has often confidentially hinted, that he prayed to see the
day arrive when the gates of Siamese commerce might be opened
to the world at large. That day, I have little doubt, has now
arrived. In him, any ambassador invested with full powers
to treat, would find a courteous, wise, and intelligent man ;
one willing and ready to advance every means of improve-
ment. His perfect knowledge of English would enable him to

SIAM AS A HARBOUR OF REFUGE. 181

dispense with that bane to friendly and upright intercourse and
conversation a cringing, and most generally prevaricating,
interpreter. Anything fair and honest, affording like privileges
to both sides, would meet with his instant approval ; and what
the benefits derivable are likely to be, I shall endeavour
concisely and clearly to explain.

First, let us consider Siam in the light of a harbour of refuge.

Heretofore, the exorbitant tax levied in the shape of tonnage-
dues upon all vessels under a foreign flag, were of themselves
sufficient to exclude effectually the possibility of the Menam
affording shelter and rest to the tempest-tost ship and
fatigued and care-worn mariner. But this was not all. No
stranger was permitted, for any consideration, to cross the bar,
and enter the river without a special permit being previously
obtained from the king himself; a transgression of this law
subjecting the vessel and cargo to immediate forfeiture, and the
pilot, captain, and crew, to imprisonment and other severe
punishment. The pilot, indeed, was considered guilty of a
capital offence, and condemned to death, if he was convicted ;
for him there was no hope of a palliation of the punish-
ment, as it was a public law that every pilot, before boarding
any vessel in the offing, or anchored in the outer roads, must
be furnished with the royal permit, backed by the official seal
of the governor of Paknam, the nearest sea-port town on the
river. This permit was never granted, except in case of a
friendly visit from a vessel of war, and then it was a tacitly
understood arrangement that the cannon, &c., were to be landed
at Paknam, though this stipulation was seldom or never com-
plied with, as very few war vessels ever made a sufficiently long
stay to think the risk and trouble of crossing the bar worthy the
attempt ; unless it were specified, firstly, that the vessel and all
on board would quietly submit and subject themselves to the
annoying process and unnecessary visits and inquisitive scrutiny
of the Custom-house officers at Paknam. Secondly, that the
captain of the vessel should, before proceeding further up the

182 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

river, deposit in the governor's hands, or else give ample security
for the due payment of, the tonnage dues, which were somewhere
about two tikals per ton measurement (the tikal being equal to
about eighteen-pence sterling, would make the sum levied on
a vessel of about 300 tons no less than forty-five pounds sterling).
And, thirdly, that it be specified that the vessel, before leaving
the river again, should be obliged to load a full and complete
cargo of Siamese produce, the export dues on which were even
more disproportionately large and unjust than those imposed on
the ship's tonnage.

Under such disadvantageous circumstances, a vessel overtaken
by a typhoon, dismasted, leaky, and wholly unmanageable, how-
ever favourable her position with regard to the mouth of the
Menam, however fair the wind may be to run to that shelter,
has no inducement to make the attempt, and no option but to
battle out the fury of the elements, and strained in every timber,
eventually reach some port in China, or in the Malacca Straits ;
else, unequal to the effort, founder with valuable cargoes and
still more valuable lives, far from the hope of rescue or any
eventual succour. This is no over-wrought picture drawn from
fancy's brain. Insurance offices can bear most lamentable testi-
mony to the unusual loss of life and property in the China seas.
I do not presume to say that this could be altogether remedied
were Bangkok to a certain extent a free port ; but I am persuaded
that many a vessel has foundered between the longitudes of
Pulo Obi and Singapore, and many more still met with material
damage and loss, which might have been in a great measure
alleviated or avoided had Siam held out any inducement to
the tempest-tost sailor to alter his course, relinquish ineffectual
tacking against a hurricane, and stand before the wind for the
river Menam. But of course heretofore this was impracticable ;
few vessels pass to and from India and China save those that are
both ways deeply laden. Such ships as are regularly in the
China trade from Calcutta and Bombay are chiefly freighted
with opium a drug which the Siamese Government publicly

RESTRICTIONS ON NAVIGATION. 183

condemn and utterly prohibit, and which would subject the
vessel to instant confiscation. Hence a ship seeking refuge in
the Menam, and arriving off the bar in a sinking state, might
go down at her moorings before assistance could be procured,
and would certainly have done so before any concession would
have been made by the Government of the late King. There was
a choice of evils left ; were the vessel in distress an opium
trader, her only chance was to throw her unusually valuable
cargo overboard, pay heavy dues on entering, incur heavy
expenses in docking, be compelled to produce funds sufficient
to purchase an outward cargo, or be freighted for a mere song by
some avaricious Arab merchant ; or else to keep afloat as she
best could till the storm abated, and if she could not, go down
with all hands. Only imagine the delightful humour the owner
would be in, in the last case. The cargo of opium was worth
perhaps fifty thousand pounds ; the vessel was his own, and both
it and the cargo well insured ; but the wretch of a captain, and
those worthless fellows the crew (who, by the way, are ready to
shed their blood in the service, and have oftentimes severe
brushes with the Chinese on the Eastern coast), being overtaken
by a dreadful hurricane, in which the vessel loses all her masts,
has the bulwarks, boats, and half the crew washed away, springs
a leak which is hourly gaming upon them, and, to complete the
picture, the pumps are choked and utterly useless, in this
dilemma, the captain, aided and abetted by his rascally crew (for
so the merchant styles them), instead of quietly saying their"
prayers, settling down with the vessel, and going peacefully to
the bottom, and so securing the owner's interest, and cheating
the insurance, actually have the audacity to think of setting up
jury masts, and standing before the wind for Siam, where, luckily
for themselves, they arrive in safety ; but, being aware of the
stringent laws of the country, the first thing they do is to throw
the opium overboard. The vessel we may suppose to be about
300 tons burthen ; she pays her entrance duty, dock charges, &c .,
and gets taken up for a lump sum to carry a cargo of sugars to

184

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Bombay, the freight on which amounts to somewhere about
150?. Now the dockyard charges and tonnage dues amount to at
least double that amount, and have been paid by the skipper on
the guarantee of a bottomry bond ; hence the owner's entry of
profit and loss that voyage runs nearly as follows :

DR.

s. d.

CR.

5.

To Profit on Freight . 150
Nett loss by damage
to cargo, &c. of clip-
per "Blazes" . .51,150

51,300

By loss on opium . . 50,000
Damage to vessel . 1000
Repairs and dues . 300

51,300

There are very few captains that would not rather meet fifty
deaths than one owner after the receipt of such an account.
None would be induced to run for Siam under existing circum-
stances, unless he had made up his mind to run altogether from
home, friends and his senses, and bidding adieu to Europe for ever,
embrace the Siamese faith, eschew pleasure, turn priest and cele-
brate a fanatical jig for the special behoof of the white elephants.
Second : with regard to the import trade. Under existing
circumstances it is very limited in comparison to what it
might be, considering the dense population of the Siamese
dominions) but the heavy taxation of the poorer classes places
European manufacture and produce quite out of their reach,
because the heavy duties levied upon imports compel mer-
chants to retail these goods at exorbitant prices, so as to
enable them to have a profit worthy of the risk and expense
incurred in bringing these goods such a distance. But the fact
speaks for itself when I say, that, notwithstanding the many
drawbacks and the heavy stumbling-blocks in the shape of taxes
and other duties placed as impediments in the way of a thriving
commerce, Bangkok and its immediate neighbourhood afford a
ready market for a by no means meagre supply of British stuffs ;
a proof that the profit accruing on the original valuation of goods
must be enormous indeed, as it enables the merchant to pocket
a respectable nett profit, after the freight, and insurance, and

EXTENSION OF COMMEECE WITH SIAM. 185

innumerable local dues are deducted from the price current at
Bangkok. The same argument will hold good with respect to
the articles of export trade. Great indeed must be the gain upon
these in European markets when we consider that they also are
not only liable to all the drawback enumerated in the import
trade, but in addition to, and over and above all these, most of the
staple articles of the Siamese produce are grown or are collected
many hundred miles in the interior, and their prime cost value
must therefore, of necessity, be considerably augmented by the
expenses of inland carriage, both by land and water, before
reaching the market at Bangkok.

Now a remedy to all the foregoing evils presents itself by the
supreme power of the realm having devolved upon a man open
to every practicable suggestion for the cause of humanity, the
amelioration of the condition of the natives, and for the extension
of Siamese commerce. A favourable opportunity thus presents
itself for the laying of a firm foundation for friendly and com-
mercial intercourse with a nation heretofore but little known to
Europe in general, an intercourse which would inevitably open
a new market for every manufactory in the United Kingdom,
by drawing from them constant supplies of every imaginable
article requisite both for the luxury and comfort of a vast and
almost wholly unexplored empire ; at the same time that the
security afforded to travellers would add vastly to our store of
science, by affording us a knowledge of places and races of men,
of birds, beasts, fishes, vegetable and animal productions, yet
unheard of, as new as they may prove immensely useful : and the
sense, the touch, the taste, the sight, in short every virtuous
appetite tending to moral pleasure, be gratified and delighted by
flowers, fruits, &c., up to this day a mystery to the inquisitive
mind of man.

By the exercise of a little engineering skill, and at a small
expense, the entrance to the Menam might be greatly improved.
The banks are composed of sand and clay, closely set, and these
by the great ebb of water at the lowest tide are left for several

186 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

hours high and dry. It would be easy therefore, either to con-
struct a permanent channel navigable at all hours by vessels of the
largest tonnage, or else a more simple method, and one attended
with much less expense would be, to erect two pillars of stone or
iron, whichever may be thought best, to indicate that part of the
bank where the greatest depth of water may be had, and between
these pillars, serving as beacon gates, any vessel may, in cases
of emergency, run aground should the water be too low to pass
over, and wait for a returning tide to float her into the river.
These pillars might be marked with figures indicating the depth
of water, and from surveying which any vessel anchored in the
roadstead may, without the aid of a pilot, and by a simple
knowledge of their own draught of water, enter the mouth of
the Menam as the tide served. These pillars might be so
constructed as to serve for light-houses during the night, and
the original cost and expenses of keeping them in repair, &c.,
be amply repaid, and yield an abundant surplus, by levying a
small toll on every vessel and junk that entered the river. A
very convenient and commodious dock-yard, and one in every
way sheltered, might be easily constructed a few miles above
Pakman. And between that town and Paklo Belo, vessels
arriving with cargoes damaged might land all the goods,
have them warehoused, and well-aired, and undergo whatever
operations were necessary in very little more than a week ;
thus, at the same time that a valuable ship and cargo
would be saved from utter destruction, the local government
would derive emolument from the tolls levied in the shape of
dock and lighthouse dues, &c., while merchants and private
individuals would likewise reap benefit from wharfage, ware-
housing, porterage, and many other indispensable expenses both
incidental and necessary. Provision merchants would likewise
drive a thriving trade, and be induced, under the milder sway
of Chou-Faa, to form a branch establishment at Pulo Obi for
the supply of vessels bound to and from the Straits of Malacca.
Many vessels would prefer, when the monsoons admitted,

CAPABILITIES OF SIAM.

187

stocking their vessels with poultry and other requisites at Pulo
Obi, though a little way out of their direct course, because
the prices charged at Singapore are very exorbitant, the old
saying in the Straits being that " no one can open his mouth at
Singapore without paying a dollar ! "

It is generally believed in Siam that the river Menam is,
with the exception of the immediate neighbourhood of Yuthia, a
deep and navigable stream, and one on which a steamer could
with great ease ply to and fro, provided coal dep6ts were
established at stations along the river side. What mines may
exist in the unexplored interior is yet a mystery, but there is no
reason to suppose that so vast an extent of territory is utterly
void of these riches of nature, and possibly in the more northern
provinces coal strata may exist. If colliers, however, find it
expedient and profitable to carry coals from Newcastle round the
Cape of Good Hope to Aden, there is no reason why Siam should
not hold out an equal inducement. When steam engines are there
introduced, and steamers as well as steam mills, and eventually,
I have little doubt, railways, are brought into operation, this
navigation of the Menam would throw open a vast field to public
enterprise. There is no reason to doubt that, yielding as the
interior does such a vast supply of the sugar-cane, sugar factories
and rum distilleries would quickly rise alongside the banks
of the river. In the northern provinces the mulberry tree could
be cultivated to advantage, and Siamese silk in a few years
be brought to rival the produce of the China markets in Europe.
Here European machinery and steam-power engines would form
an essential article of the Siamese import trade from Great
Britain. If tea is successfully cultivated in Assam, there is
reason to hope that its introduction into Siam would be attended
with a like happy result ; and the coffee plant, which flourishes
in all luxuriance on parts of the Malabar coast, might, at inland
plantations, well irrigated by the Menam, arrive with care to
great perfection. Indigo and cotton would be equally successful ;
and if the gutta-percha that treasure-trove of the Straits

188 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

remained hidden from the inquisitive inquiries of speculative
merchants, naturalists, and travellers, through a long series of
years, during which period the Straits may be said to have been
in a comparative state of civilisation, and was at length revealed
to the public through the medium of a young medical officer, we
are justified in supposing that a country inhabited wholly by a
benighted people may have many valuable productions which may
hereafter yield to the force of minute and persevering investigation.
Few countries are richer than Siam as regards produce suited
for and sought after in European markets, and few countries
afford a wider field for the acquisition of wealth, as well as of
useful and agreeable knowledge. The facilities now afforded
to enterprise are very great, and it would be much to be
lamented that any other European power should forestall us in
seizing such an advantageous opportunity. The wild beasts
of the forest would supply us with very many valuable skins and
very valuable ivory ; the trees themselves yield a great variety of
gums, and spices, and dyes ; the fields and banks of the river,
rice, pepper, tobacco, sugar, spices, and eventually rum, tea,
coffee, and a vast supply of silks, both raw and manufactured.

COFFEE PLANT

SHOOTING EXCURSION.

189

CHAPTER XII.

Shooting Excursion." The Friends ' " Cutter. Fishing for Pomphleta Landing at
Pigeon Island. Description of the Island. Shooting Pigeons. Government
Dispatch Boxes. Amusing adventure with one. Fire at Bangkok. Attack on
Mr. Hunter's house. Breaking out of the Cholera. Author returns home.

into requisition.

UEING my stay at Bangkok
when there was nothing which
demanded our presence on the
spot, and this was not unfre-
quently the case, Mr. Hunter
used to make up pleasant little
parties of pleasure, on which
occasions his beautiful little
cutter, the "Friends," was put
The " Friends " was about
thirty tons burthen, commanded by an ugly
black little Siamese sailor that we commonly
christened "Captain Jack." Captain Jack could
speak a little broken English, and could sing one
verse of "Rule Britannia," accomplishments of which
he was not a little proud ; and nothing was more insult-
ing to his feelings than to address him in his own native dialect.
His invariable reply to such an affront used to be, "Me speak more
better Inglise as you speak Siamese," a fact which I am con-
strained to confess was truth itself; for, with the exception of
Mr. H, very few of us could ever attain anything approaching
to an efficient knowledge of that most barbarous tongue.

190 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

On one occasion when there was a perfect stagnation in trade,
and politics were calmly reposing, a fishing and shooting ex-
cursion was planned. We were to start from Bangkok in the
" Friends," and without any stoppages on the way, proceed direct
to the mouth of the river, and sailing out into the bay, run
alongside of the " John Panter," a fine English bark, lying at
anchor off the bar, waiting a cargo of sugar which was expected
from the interior. The " John Panter " was commanded by a
very estimable young Welshman, Captain Harris, and it was to
pick him up and take him with us that we were to call alongside.
The morning we started from Bangkok was unpropitious in the
extreme to our plans and expectations of amusement ; it rained,
blew, and thundered, but nothing could damp our ardour, and
in the midst of this brewing squall, much to the disgust of
Captain Jack, who had to bear all the brunt of the affair, we set
sail, and sped rapidly down the river. The " Friends " had a
very comfortable cabin, with eight commodious berths for pas-
sengers, a fine long table, and seats all round it, formed by the
locker, inside of which the good things of this earth the edibles
and drinkables were carefully stowed away. The cabin had
small windows or portholes all round it, which made it nice and
airy so long as we were in pretty smooth water ; but when the
sea was at all rough, then these portholes were hermetically
closed, and the cabin was quite in the dark, till the little swinging
globe was lit of an evening. It continued to blow and rain till
past three o'clock in the afternoon, and then the " Friends," a
regular little clipper for sailing, had made such progress, that we
were in sight of the little floating fortress of Paknam. The sun
now shone out brilliantly, and the evening was fresh and cool,
and everything around looked so pleasant and smelt so sweet,
that our spirits were quite enlivened by the prospects of a very
delightful jaunt. Arriving alongside the "John Panter," it
was put to the vote and unanimously carried that we do sup
and sleep on board of the "John Panter" that night, and
next morning, after imbibing certain coffees, proceed on our

AMUSEMENTS AT PIGEON ISLAND. 191

expedition to Pigeon Island, one of a little group situated a few
miles off the eastern shore of the gulf, or rather bay, and which
was just discernible from the ship's deck. The " Friends " was
anchored astern of the vessel, and a stout rope passed to her for
better security should it come on to blow during the night. A
very large quantity of guns and fishing tackle were now handed
up and ranged in fierce array against the vessel's poop; and
whilst some tried to catch fish for supper from the fish that were
sporting alongside, others tried their hands at knocking over
gulls on the wing. Thus the evening closed in, and about as
many gulls were shot as fish were gulled, somewhere about
half-a-dozen.

The next morning we started at about seven for Pigeon
Island, and a very beautiful, bright morning it was. There was
just a nice little land breeze sufficient to carry us rapidly
through the water, and the sea was so smooth and calm, that we
could see the sandy bottom distinctly, and amused ourselves by
watching the shoals of little fish that kept sporting about in the
sunlight. Those who fished, met with very great success, and
more than one of those delicacies known in India as "pamphlets"
was hooked up for our breakfast. There was no mistake about
their being fresh, for not five minutes elapsed from the time
when they were sporting merrily in the water, before they
were dished up for breakfast. No qualms of conscience with
regard to their untimely end, started up, like a nightmare, to
take the keen edge off our appetites, and under the kindly shade
spread over the deck by the mainsail, the good things set before
us rapidly disappeared. As the day advanced, the heat in-
creased, and we were ultimately obliged to seek refuge in the
" Friends' " cabin. About one p. m. the cutter was brought-to off
Pigeon Island, and then we found to our consternation that the
water had ebbed so low, that there was no possibility of reaching
the shore before the next high tide, which might, or might not
be in six or twelve hours from that time. This was beyond all
endurance, so we determined, coute gui coute, to get on shore if

192 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

we perished in the attempt. No sooner said than put into
execution. So taking off our shoes and stockings, away we
started on this very ludicrous expedition. One foot out of the
vessel and into the mud ankle deep ; immediately another foot
out of the vessel, and the whole weight of the body brought to
bear on the mud knee-deep in a second. A violent effort to get
the right foot disentangled, a dreadful struggle to do ditto with
the left foot, and this kind of work continued for nearly twenty
minutes. The moment we stopped for breath, we felt ourselves
rapidly sinking, and would doubtless have sunk up to the neck,
if we had halted long to repose ourselves ; and all this time with
a heavy double-barrelled " Manton" on one's shoulders. "With a
broiling sun overhead, against the rays of which straw hats were
a poor protection, and a nasty, clammy mud reaching above one's
knees, our condition was indeed ridiculously deplorable. But
there was no help but to go a-head as rapidly as one could ; and
I found that by rapid movements of the legs I sank not half so
deep in the clay as when I was creeping along at a snail's pace.
Oh, that interminable, wretched half-hour of misery ! The
distance from the boat to the shore was about a hundred and
fifty yards ; and, this length of suffering completed, we reached
the sandy beach, exhausted and faint, with feet and legs lacerated
by sharp bits of shells and seaweed, and in the most filthy state
of mud that the mind can picture. There, stretched at full
length, under the shade of a blessed old tamarind tree, our party
sought repose, whilst the villagers, like a family of good
Samaritans, brought us chatties (jars) of water, which they
threw over our feet, pouring water, and not ointment, into our
wounds. This proceeding refreshed us a little ; a glass ot
Hodgson's pale ale refreshed us a little more ; and, in about half
an hour's time, *we were enabled to put on our stockings and
shoes again, and venture into the village, where the head-man,
who had known Mr. Hunter through a quarter of a century,
received and lodged us with great hospitality during the week
that we remained at Pigeon Island.

SCENERY OF PIGEON ISLAND. 193

Pigeon Island is the Siamese name interpreted, but the name
of the place in Siamese, I have entirely forgotten, for the reason
that I never was able to pronounce it. It was a name of about
twenty letters, with hardly a single consonant in it, something
likellioueuouauay only not half so short. In a most delightful
situation, full four miles distant from the nearest shore, this island
had a reputation for being the healthiest spot in that part of
the world. And the natives certainly gave ample proofs of their
being in a state of perfect salubrity. Pigeon Island is only three
miles in circumference ; but of these three miles, there is hardly
a foot of ground that is not devoted to agricultural purposes.
Flowers grew in perfect hedges the China rose, the maliapoo,
or red-stalk jessamine, the sweet-smelling cassia, and that most
odoriferous of all odoriferous flowers, the bell passion-flower ;
these mingled their sweetness with the freshly-mown hay, and
made the early hours of morning feel like moments snatched
from paradise, such as the depraved mind of man could conceive
to have been the every-day enjoyment of Adam and Eve in their
pristine innocence.

The dew was sparkling on the leaf,

Now tinged with golden light !
As all things fair are but too brief,

So these pure gems of night,
Like tears from some kind angel shed,

Fell glistening from above ;
They mourned the night too quickly fled,

As we mourn those we love.

But some, more happy in their doom,

Amongst the fair flowers fell ;
And midst their sweetness sought a tomb

The rose and the blue-bell.
These fondly in their bosoms sought

To nurture them awhile,
But Life's with hidden dangers fraught,

Tho' Nature seems to smile.
A thoughtless child, in sportive play,

Plucked these fair flowers of morn ;
And so their brightness passed away,

As passes early dawn.

194 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

And then to see the fruit trees bowed down with their rich
offering the cashoemit and apple, the callacca and the bilimby,
the ramboteen and the sour-sop, the custard apple and the
pomegranate, and lastly, that prince of all earthly fruits, the
mangostein. This was a luxurious sight. All the gifts of
Heaven seemed blended together in this little island. At least,
so the birds seemed to say, for I am persuaded their hearts were
grateful and happy, or they never could have sung so sweetly
as they were all singing that morning. Even the old thief of a
crow, who was perched on the palm-tree close by the side of the
house, and who was yesterday convicted by our host of a felony,
even he, noisy old rogue that he generally was, had got his
head knowingly cocked on one side, evidently admiring the
music of the other birds in silent attention, at the same time
that his eyes were fixed upon our breakfast. Swarms of
tiny little avrivats now arrive, and the confusion and noise
they create put a stop to the other songsters. They are for
all the world like so many imbecile old women who are
labouring under the wretched hallucination that they once had
a daughter, a very virtuous young woman, who behaved very ill
in after life ; and her ingratitude is the theme of their conver-
sation and dreams for the rest of their lives. These avrivats go
over the same notes a hundred thousand times ; they must be
repeating the same sentences over and over again ; and as they
are so chatty upon this subject, depend upon it, it is scandal they
are discussing. If they were not so very beautiful in plumage,
I should be inclined to believe in transmigration, and look upon
them as sorrowing, defunct old maids. There is a frightful
screaming in the air, of very many parrots bound on a thieving
expedition to rob some orchard. Noisy, little fierce-looking
squirrels, with their tails cocked up in the air, and stolen
property between their fore-paws, are alternately crunching a
bit of some nut, and squealing defiance to one another. The
melancholy, loving wooing of the turtle dove resounds from the
distant little wood, and large flights of blue mountain pigeons

HOUSES AND INHABITANTS OF PIGEON ISLAND. 195

warn us that we must be up and doing, and so we leave our host
to the enjoyment of his otium cum dig. in solitude, and saunter
through the very picturesque little lanes of the village.

The houses are separated from each other, as they are
connected with distinct little farms, to each of which is attached
a fruit, vegetable, and flower garden. There is no taste
displayed in the arrangement of these, but Nature is very bounti-
ful, and there is a something extremely beautiful in the wild
luxurious richness and profusion with which the plants grow.
Very little nurturing do they require from the hand of man ;
the heavy dews of night moisten the earth, and add fresh vigour
to the sap of the trees and plants, and the heat of the sun
reaches them only through the protruding canopy of leaves.
Poultry was abundant, especially ducks ; and as for China pigs
and pigglings, there were as many as would support a regiment
of hungry soldiers for a month. Here also were milch cows
and oxen, and bulls, and a few very unhappy looking sheep.
The latter were quite a novelty to us again, for in Bangkok
they are never to be seen, and the man that asked for milk to
use with his tea or coffee would be immediately set down as
perfectly insane. There was a fine spring of water that made
quite a little stream before reaching the sea ; and on either side
of this stream were erected the wooden habitations of the
inhabitants. We entered several of the houses and found them
exceedingly neat and clean ; the women were much prettier
than the Siamese, and wore their hair in long tresses hanging
over their backs and shoulders. They were principally Burmese
by origin, who, having intermixed with Siamese, had become
naturalised, although they still retained the costumes and customs
of their native land. Emerging from the village we came out
upon the paddy, or rice fields, and leaving these to our left we
skirted a rich pasturage ground, and entered into the little
forest that has been permitted by the natives to stand, as it
affords shelter for the cattle and the labourer during the intense
heat of the hottest part of the day.

o 2

196 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

An incredible number of parrots were perched on the banian
trees, devouring the species of wild Indian fig that that tree
produces ; but it was utterly impossible to distinguish them
from the green leaves of the trees. Our only chance was to
station ourselves round the trees a few yards distant from them,
and then one party gave a shout and threw a lot of pebbles
amongst the leaves ; this was the signal for a general scattering,
and as crowds flew out in every direction we had excellent sport,
firing in amongst them, and many a hard bite, that made us howl
again with pain, did we get in our attempts to capture the
wounded birds alive. They had such fearfully sharp beaks that
unless we were very adroit in seizing them by the scruff of the
neck, our fingers were sure to suffer ; this was no easy job, for
the parrots when they saw there was no chance of flight turned
themselves upon their backs and defended themselves with their
claws and beak, fighting with great bravery for their liberty ;
but we soon found out a method of circumventing them by
thrusting the dead birds foremost, which they immediately
clutched firmly, and then we dropped them both together into
the recesses of a capacious game bag, that was carried by Captain
Jack, and very proud and delighted the old fellow was at being
permitted to accompany us on this shooting expedition. Towards
evening large flights of pigeons, which had been feeding on the
opposite coast, began to flock home to their nests and roosting
places in the islands ; we stationed ourselves at the extreme
point of a narrow neck of land which ran out into the sea, and
from this spot we picked the pigeons off as they passed over-
head, and by nightfall Captain Jack had a pretty good burden
to carry home. Some days we amused ourselves in fishing
and paddling out a little distance to sea, to a snug little cove
that lay on one side of the island, where we let our lines over and
caught what we could. Prawns and crabs were abundant at
this island, but I never, either here or at Bangkok, saw anything
in the shape of an oyster, or even a lobster.

Thus about as pleasant a week as I had ever spent flitted

SIAMESE DESPATCH. 197

rapidly over our heads, and just as amusements began to get
monotonous tlie time to which, we had limited ourselves was
up, and leaving Pigeon Island and its inhabitants to their accus-
tomed quiet routine of life, and the birds to the undisturbed
possession of their haunts for both had been sadly interrupted
by our most unexpected invasion we set sail for Bangkok one
Saturday evening, and arrived there early the following Monday
morning.

Shortly after our re turn the "John Panter" was reported ready
to sail for Singapore and Bombay. All were occupied in writing
letters to be sent by this opportunity, and even his Siamese Majesty
summoned his most learned scribes into his presence and made
them concoct a despatch to his Excellency the Governor of Singa-
pore (then the present Sir George Bonham), in which letter, after
the usual most affectionate inquiries after health, &c., his Majesty
communicated some secret political information relative to the
declaration of war against Cochin China, and begged for informa-
tion and advice. This long despatch was put into about a dozen
highly scented envelopes, of different coloured satin, and then
these were deposited at the bottom of a goodly-sized fine wicker
basket a basket about the size usually used for fruit and then
this basket, with the letters in it, was put into a large silk bag,
highly decorated with flowers worked in silver and gold ; the
ribbons at the top were then drawn tight, securely closing the bag
and both ends fastened together with sealing wax, and sealed
with the large seal of state, thus preventing the possibility of
any one getting an inkling of his Majesty's state secrets, save
and except the Governor of Singapore, for whose confidential
perusal they were intended. I had charge of this letter from
Bangkok to the outside of the bar, and the "Friends" was kindly
lent me by Mr. H. to take me to the " John Panter," and bring
me back again, and a pretty mess I nearly made. Captain Jack
was too valuable to Mr. H. to be spared at all times, and on the
present occasion the " Friends" was entrusted to the charge of a
man who did not exactly understand how to manage her.

198 KESIDENCE IN SI AM.

Besides myself and the crew of the vessel, there was an unfortu-
nate second mate of a Bombay ship that had lately arrived, and
was at anchor outside the river. The poor man had been sent
to collect some freight due to the vessel, and having completed
his job was returning with a handkerchief full of Spanish dollars
in either pocket of his great heavy pea-jacket ; we had just
crossed the bar, and were within half a mile of the shipping,
when, seeing me bring up this extraordinary letter bag, he begged
permission to look at it, and whilst he was inspecting it aft, near
the man at the helm, I, by a lucky chance for myself, happened
to go down into the cabin for something or other, when all of a
sudden the " Friends " pitched completely on her beam-ends,
and I heard the crash of something being carried away, which
was instantly followed by a loud splash, and a cry of horror from
the deck. On rushing up to see what was the matter, I found
that the large main boom of the cutter had suddenly jibed, from
the man at the helm having, by his bad steering, luffed her up,
till she was caught right aback with a stiff sea-breeze blowing
at the time, and the boom, in the force of its swing, had knocked
the poor second mate overboard, in all probability breaking his
ribs with the blow. Whether or not the poor fellow ever rose
to the water's surface again and the great weight of money in
his pockets was all-sufficient to sink him like a stone I never
ascertained. We put the " Friends " about instantly, and hove
her to, close where he had gone down, for the spot was indicated
by an eddy in the water, and his straw hat floated close by.
The accident had been seen from the ships, and boats were
immediately despatched to our succour, but all in vain. A sea-
gull that had been hovering over the spot alighted where the
eddy had ceased to mark the poor young sailor's premature
grave, and his hat was all that remained to remind us of him who
had but so lately been our cheerful happy companion. I found
the letter bag close to the tiller box, where, in all likelihood, the
poor mate had thrown it to liberate his hands in his efforts to
save himself from his sad fate.

FIRE AT BANGKOK. 199

Once during my prolonged sojourn at Bangkok 1 witnessed
a fire on the river which threatened destruction to the whole
city, and all the ships and other craft in harbour. A great deal
of cocoa-nut oil is consumed by the Siamese for cooking and
other purposes, and generally speaking each house is provided
with one or more large-mouthed jars full of this ingredient for
home consumption, consisting of inflammable matter. As the
houses are constructed, it cannot be a matter of surprise that
fire as easily catches as it is difficult to be extinguished. A
careless party of boys who were fishing in the river by torch-
light suffered the canoe to approach so near to some of the
floating houses in one of those narrow little passages (which
I have before alluded to as detrimental to the salubrity of the
city, from the vast amount of filth there accumulated), that the
torch ignited the thatched roof of one of the houses, which was
instantly all in a blaze. Snatching away the torch from the delin-
quent's hand, who was wholly unaware of the mischief he had
committed, another of the boys made an effort to fling it into the
water, hoping that it would be instantly extinguished, and thus
leave no clue to the discovery of the perpetrators of the deed ;
but in the struggle that ensued between the first boy, who
imagined himself insulted, and the one who had snatched the
torch away, the latter, in flinging it from his hand, missed his
footing, and falling back into the water, sent the torch in an
exactly opposite direction to what he had intended, and it, all
blazing as it was, alighted on the roof of another house in the
back row, and in less than two minutes a double row of streets
was all in flames. The alarm of fire was instantly given by the
Chinese junks in the harbour, who created a frightful din with
their gongs, assisted in the noise by the bells of the European
vessels. The watts in the neighbourhood caught up the strain,
and eventually the great watt of the white elephant sounded its
huge booming gong, which is somewhere about the size of a
large round table. The city, which a few minutes before had
been hushed in peaceful tranquillity, was now the scene of the

.200 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

greatest confusion and noise imaginable. There was the mur-
muring of thousands of voices, that came stealing upon the ear
like the roar of distant water ; lights were instantly seen moving
in every direction ; vessels were weighing their anchors or
slipping their cables, and sailing up the river in the Yuthia
direction, so as to be out of reach of the fast-approaching
flames. The fire was on the opposite side of the water to our
house, and appeared to us at that time to be not far from
the Portuguese consulate ; but distant as it was, so bright were
the flames, that the whole place was perfectly illuminated, and
we could plainly distinguish the smallest boat moving on the
river. All the Europeans on our side of the river were assembled
at Mr. Hunter's wharf to witness this sad but grand spectacle,
as also the American missionaries. One of these gentlemen, who
was certainly never born to be a soldier, evinced the greatest
symptoms of alarm and terror, though the fire was fully two
miles away from us, and on the other side of the river ; but he
had fifty horrid conjectures to make that some canoe, or boat,
or vessel would come over all in flames, and ignite our side, and
then his comfortable house and nice furniture would be all
burnt. In the midst of these and many other lamentations of a
very melancholy character, somebody chanced to ask him where
Mrs. E. (his wife) and his children were. "Oh!" replied he,
struck as it were all of a heap ! " well, I guess I quite forgat
them ; I calculate they are asleep ; " and with this exclamation
he bolted into his house, and opening the bed-room door, roared
out "fire! " with all his might, and then bolted back to the jetty
(wharf) again, looking as pale as though he had expected to find
the wharf burnt down, and all means of escape cut off. His
poor wife and children, who had been frightened nearly out of
their wits, came tearing down to the jetty in the utmost alarm,
and when the lady found the real state of affairs, she rated poor
E. most soundly for his cowardliness, and for putting her into
such an awkward predicament as to compel her to run out in
what she called her she maizey (chemise). The ladies of the

FIKE AT BANGKOK. 201

party and the greater number of Yankees, finding there was no
immediate danger to be apprehended to their lives and pro-
perties, calculated that they would go to bed again, and
accordingly went ; but as for brother R, no earthly inducement
could prevail on him to return to his house. It was a grand
sight indeed to see the swarms of people that lined the floating
houses on either side of the banks of the river for miles and
miles ; and when the King in his state barge came rowing down
the river, as is his custom on any similar calamity, then in truth
it was wonderful to see the prostrate thousands in attitudes
similar to that of prayer, calling to the King to save them and
their property from destruction, as though his supposed celestial
influence could arrest the fiery element in its direful progress.
How seldom alas ! do we see so much fervour and devotional faith
in more enlightened but thoughtless professors of religion. The
Mahometan will strictly follow up the ordinance of his creed ;
the idolater be scrupulous in his prayers and offerings to the
idol of his choice ; but the Christian, with all the good intentions
of religion about him, is too apt to forget his Creator and best
Benefactor.

Thus did this simple and foolish people firmly believe that the
interposition of their King was all-sufficient to keep them from
harm, and to make the effect more impressive, the fire was
almost instantly quelled by some of the court agents having
resorted to the simple plan of cutting away the moorings of that
row of houses that lay nearest to the flames, and these floating
down the river, and kept off by men in boats with long poles,
gradually gained the centre of the stream, when, being caught
by the strong current setting in that direction, they were rapidly
swept round a corner, and so disappeared. As for the flames,
they burnt on till the last bit of timber of the last house was
fairly consumed ; and then the gap occasioned by the water
fairly quenched their mischievous ire, and all was dark night
again. Even the Yankee was bold enough to venture back to
bed ; and as for myself, I lay thinking over the events of that

*5U^ RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

night. The distant cawing of crows warned me of the approach
of day, and whilst meditating on the rash act of turning out
again, I turned over on my side and so fell fast asleep.

The morning after the fire we were all rather late at the
breakfast table, discussing the probable amount of damage that
had been sustained. An old Chinese merchant assured us, that

INTERIOR OF A SIAMESE HOUSE.

beyond the loss of a few pots and pans, no great detriment had
been sustained ; and certainly eight days had not elapsed before
the burnt houses had been replaced by gaudily-painted new
ones.

Shortly after the fire at Bangkok, we were subjected to a far
more disagreeable nocturnal disturbance, which might have

DISTURBANCE WITH ENGLISH SAILORS. 203

terminated with, loss of life and much, bloodshed. Mr. Hunter
happened to be absent from Bangkok on some mercantile busi-
ness, and in his absence a vessel arrived from Liverpool, freighted
with Manchester goods, and bringing us very many necessary
additions to our household comforts, in the shape of wine, beer,
hams, cheeses, &c. &c., and last, though not least, an acquisition to
our small society in the shape of a young Englishman, a Mr. S.,
who had been in the West Indies, and had come to be manager
of Mr. Hunter's house. The crew of this ship were about as
great a collection of ruffians as could be assembled together, and
the very first Sunday after their arrival they managed to smuggle
on board a quantity of spirits, which one of them had very
adroitly extracted from some of the newly landed barrels on
shore. The natural result was, firstly, a great deal of hilarity ;
and secondly, a great deal of boxing, in which latter the master
and captain came in for their share ; finally, the last drop having
been drained, the most "intoxicated man of the lot brought a
pannikin on shore and filled it again, deliberately in the presence
of us all. Mr. H., the junior partner, upon this accosted the
man, and got grossly insulted in return. The servants were then
summoned, and the pilferer was by main force carried off to
prison, and there locked up till he should be sober. The barrels
were removed to a more secure spot, and the unconscious crew
were eagerly waiting the return of their companion ; at length
losing all patience, they sallied forth in search of him, and great
indeed was their indignation to discover that he was safely
locked up in prison. They threatened to set fire to the house,
and finding their menaces treated with contempt, they sallied
jorth in search of more ardent spirit, which they procured from
the natives in large quantities, and when wound up to a perfect
pitch of frenzy, they went on board and armed themselves with
cutlasses and boarding pikes, determined at the cost of their
lives to deliver their quondam friend from durance vile. It
would seem that it was not the first time that such a rescue
had been attempted at Mr. H.'s house in Bangkok. The junior

201 RESIDENCE IN SI AM.

partner was quite an expert general, for, availing himself of the
cruise the crew were having amongst the natives, he caused
every grain of powder in the ship to be landed, and hid in his
own warehouse, and, had time permitted, would have brought
all arms away. It was a most unpleasant position to be in ;
obliged to defend one's life and property against a large body
of drunken ruffians, who, at the best moments, were a plotting
and murderous set ; and again on the other hand, incurring the
risk of imbuing one's hands with human blood, and the
unpleasant results and reflections consequent thereon. Mr.
H.'s house had a high wall in front, with a strong gateway
at either end ; these were duly closed and barred at sunset,
and nothing but a sailor t>r a monkey could ever climb over
them. Darkness set in, and the junior partner summoning all
his servants, told them to light a large wood fire under the
wall on the inside of the garden, the house being kept in utter
darkness, so that though we could distinctly discern all move-
ments outside, the sailors could see nothing of us, and
we thus escaped being exposed to a shower of stones or
missiles. About eight at night we were regularly besieged
by these intoxicated and infuriated seamen. H. warned them
that the first man that climbed over the wall should be shot.
Little regarding this threat, which they laughed at and derided,
they with one wild shout made for the wall, and one man,
unluckily for himself, more active than the rest, actually scaled
it, and was in the act of dropping into the garden, when young
H. presented his fowling-piece at him, and taking deliberate
aim, fired. The guns were loaded with shot, but this was a
secret known only to ourselves. The loud report of the fowling-
piece was followed by the sound of something heavy falling to
the ground, and immediately the cry of " I'm shot," with heavy
groans, filled the air. The crew, who were as dastardly as they
were vicious, immediately retreated to the ship, leaving their
fallen comrade to get away as he best could. The man, how-
ever, smarting from what he naturally imagined to be a death-

AUTHOR LEAVES SIAM. 205

wound in the chest, never attempted to stir, and Mr. H.'s
servants carried him into one of the magazines, where he was
placed on a bed, and in the interval I was despatched to fetch
the doctor. This was no easy job, as 1 had to climb over the
roofs of houses, so as to avoid coming into contact with any of
the sailors, and the doctor had, at the risk of bruising his shins,
to come back with me by the same agreeable mode of travelling.
The wounds proved trivial, and only skin deep ; and next
morning Mr. Hunter, on his return to Bangkok, had all the
ringleaders arrested, and sent them down in chains, on board
a Siamese man-of-war, to Singapore, there to vindicate their
conduct as they best could before Sir George Bonham, then
governor of the Straits. The Prince Chou Faa, having heard of
our situation, very kindly came to our rescue, but when he
arrived everything was at an end the riot quelled the piratical
crew fast asleep, and the wounded prisoner safely locked up for
the night.

This was the last adventure I had at Siam. Soon after,
the cholera again brought desolation with it, and having had a
slight attack I thought it safest and this was also the doctor's
opinion to decamp, which I did in the greatest hurry, leaving
my friends and employment behind, and proceeding to Singa-
pore as a passenger in the Bombay brig " Kusrovie." Thence,
I visited Penang once again, and finally, arriving at Madras on
the 2nd January, 1842, I quitted that Presidency and India
on the 7th of February in the same year, happy to think
that I, amongst the thousands in the East, had been spared to
revisit my native land again.

206

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

CHAPTER XIII.

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF SIAM.

the History of Siam previous to
the visit of the French Embassy,
in the seventeenth century, it
is scarcely possible to obtain any
accurate particulars. The Siamese
themselves pretend that their re-
cords go as far back as the year
1300 of our era, at which time a
king reigned, bearing the very hard
and heavy name of Pra-Poat-houne
Sourritep-pennaratui Louanne Bopitra. Of him and his successors,
for three hundred years, exceedingly little is known. The principal
object which these various monarchs seem to have pursued, or, at
all events, that to which their historians appear to have attached
the most importance, was to build new capital cities, and transport
the people en masse from the old towns to the new. What histo-
rical or other facts may be concealed under this statement, it is
somewhat difficult to conjecture. Despotic as these kings of Siam
always appear to have been, it is extremely improbable that
they would be always desiring to change the seat of government
out of mere caprice, nor could they exercise their power so
effectually as entirely to depopulate the old towns. The king
and his people must both have wished for these removals, and it
is highly probable that the real history of that period would

SIAMESE HISTORY. 207

disclose to us interesting, though they might be painful, pictures
of loss of life, by floods in the Menam, by ravaging pestilences,
and, most probably, by both foreign and civil wars. The city of
Yuthia was built and made the capital by King Bhamatitondi, in
the year 1594, and it remained the capital of the kingdom down to
the close of the last century. During the period between 1300 and
1594, it is said that twenty-six kings reigned, which would be on
an average about eleven years to each reign, but what these
kings did, whether they succeeded each other quietly, whether
they died natural or violent deaths, are circumstances which
we of Europe will never in all probability know, or gain even an
idea of, unless we choose to pin our faith to such veracious men
as Mendez Pinto.

The first clear point that shows itself in their history is in the
year 1568, when the country was invaded and made tributary by
a Burmese king, named Mandanagri. This monarch seems to
have been a great warrior, for he extended his dominions as far
as the confines of China, and appears to have lived a Napoleon
sort of life. The Siamese say that the invading army which
accompanied him consisted of a million and a half of men, and
that so bravely was the capital city defended against this mighty
host, that it was only through the treachery of one of the
inhabitants that the place was taken. The real truth would
most probably give a very different estimate of the numbers of
this army, and the mode in which Yuthia capitulated. It is
worthy of notice that in this army were found two thousand
Portuguese soldiers, well disciplined and accustomed to war,
commanded by " the brave Don Diego Suanes." These troops,
like the celebrated Scotch Legion that served under Gustavus
Adolphus during the thirty years' war, were hired mercenaries,
who doubtless contributed much to the success of the Burmese
arms, but who, in all probability, would have fought as soon on
the Siamese side if they had been offered higher pay. This is
not the only instance where we meet Portuguese soldiers serving in
the armies of the East in this manner. Don Diego Suanes seems to

208 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

have been a brave man, and to have been consulted in all important
matters, military matters at least, by the Burmese king. To grace
his triumphal march home, Mandanagri carried away with him
the Queen of Siam and her two sons, probably desirous to have
some hostages for the due payment of the tribute under which
Siam had been laid. The two princes, were, however, permitted
to return a few years afterwards, and in 1583 their captor died.
His successor was obliged to dispute the possession of the throne
with an uncle, and the King of Siam seized the opportunity to
declare himself independent. The immediate consequence of
this was another invasion of Siam, in which the invaders were
completely overthrown, and two hundred thousand of them said
to have been killed. A more formidable army was, however,
sent under the command of the Burmese king's eldest son. One
of the princes who had been led into captivity was now King of
Siam. He was, when young, known by the name of the " Black
Prince," and appears to have been as brave, daring, and successful
as the English Edward who bears the same title, for, undismayed
by the numbers and power of his opponents, he attacked the
enemy, routed them in a pitched battle, and slew the leader with
his own hands. Nay, he went so far as to invade his opponent's
territory, and laid siege to the capital of Pegu ; but he was obliged
to retire to Siam, with considerable loss.

This prince died in 1605, and his brother, surnamed the
White King, succeeded him. He was very unlike his brother ;
and during his reign, which lasted five years, the country seems
to have been at peace. His second son succeeded him, but not
without an attempt being made by one of the nobles, (whose con-
spiracy was discovered and he himself executed,) to usurp the
sovereignty. This nobleman held a high position in the country,
and by some means had obtained possession of two hundred and
eighty natives of Japan, who served him as slaves. These men,
after their master had been put to death, ran in a body to the
palace, surprised the King, and compelled him to deliver up
four of the principal nobles who they supposed were concerned

SIAMESE EMBASSIES TO GOA. 209

in their master's death. These nobles were immediately mur-
dered, and the King was compelled to sign with his own blood
such conditions as the Japanese proposed. They then com-
mitted great abuses, seized on much treasure, and departed
from the country.

About ten years after this, the Siamese sent ambassadors to
Goa, the principal station of the Portuguese in the East Indies.
This appears to have been in consequence of some embassy
previously sent to Siam ; and the chief point to be noticed
regarding it was, an offer to the Portuguese of a port on the
Siamese coast, where they might establish themselves and build
a fort. The ambassadors were splendidly entertained, and a
Dominican friar sent to accompany them back with costly
presents. This friar found the King much more liberal in his
ideas than subsequent ambassadors have found any other
Siamese King. He agreed to allow the Portuguese merchants
to resort to his ports, and be exempt from all duties. Another
embassy was sent to Goa in 1621, requesting the Portuguese to
send some holy fathers to preach the gospel in the kingdom of
Siam. The request was complied with ; and it is said the King
built a church at his own expense, in which Christianity was
preached by some Franciscans. This King, however, fell a
victim to a very curious conspiracy. From four to five hundred
Japanese were brought into the country by the conspirator, who
was one of the most influential noblemen of the country, and
so well and successfully did he use them that he speedily
dethroned the monarch, and reigned in his stead. The Japanese
soon became a kind of Pretorian guard, or Janissaries ; and
their power increased to such an extent that the usurper felt
very uneasy, and his son had to disband them altogether. This
is another of those incidental circumstances that are constantly
arising out of some dark history like the present, for which in
vain we seek for an explanation that, if procured, would be of
the utmost interest. Were these men really natives of Japan ?
Were they taken from their own country by force, or did they go

p

210 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

willingly I What state was Japan in at the time ? Were they
honest men, or were they the refuse and scum of society, to
whom the lines of the poet might be applied

" True patriots they, for be it understood,
They left their country for their country's good."

Japan is and has long been such a sealed book to the nations
of Europe, and its inhabitants have so long been regarded some-
what as people who live on the world but do not belong to it,
that one is rather surprised to find them here, for the second
time, playing so prominent a part in Siamese history.

However, the Japanese disappear from the scene, and we are
left to grope in the dark for some years ; until suddenly, like
passengers emerging from a railway tunnel into the light of a
sunny day, we find, in the year 1 657, a king reigning under the
title of Chau Naraya, during whose reign occurred many of the
events most interesting to us as Europeans, and who, from
all accounts, was a man worthy of esteem and respect, and a
king deserving praise for justice, wisdom and humanity. He
came to the throne when Siam was in a most unsettled state ;
and scarcely had he commenced to reign, when revolts broke
out in many parts of the country. All these he quelled with
promptness and decision, and with little bloodshed. The priests,
with whom his liberal ideas made him no favourite, entered into
a conspiracy against him, and a plot was laid to assassinate the
monarch while he was attending some religious rite in one of
the temples. This plot was discovered, and the priests were
killed instead of the King. This monarch is said to have had
a nice vein of pleasantry, and to have enjoyed a practical joke
amazingly. One instance of this kind is recorded. A certain
high religious functionary, presuming, as men of his class are
never slow to do, on the privileges of his office, made some
remarks to the King, one day, in a very insolent manner. His
Majesty listened in silence, with right royal dignity ; and as
soon as the conference was ended, he gave orders that a large

EMBASSY FROM LOUIS XIV. 211

baboon, an animal full of mischievous tricks, should be sent, as a
present from the King, to this insolent church official, with a
polite request that the priest should keep the creature, treat it
well, and allow it perfect freedom of action. The poor priest had
no alternative but to obey. The animal had not been many days
in his house, when everything was thrown into ruin and con-
fusion ; and the priest went to the King, imploring him to
receive back the present. His Majesty very pleasantly said, he
was surprised at the request, and thought the priest must have
very little patience when he could not endure the bad conduct
of a poor animal for a few days, while he, the King, had to
endure the bad conduct and the insolent treatment of thousands
of his subjects every day in his life.

It was during the reign of this King that that most extra-
ordinary attempt was made by Louis XIY., of France, to
convert him to Christianity, as well as to conquer his country.
The entire transaction, and the persons who appear in it, are
tinged with so much romance, that, but for the undoubted
authenticity of the story, it would be difficult to believe it. In
the first place, we have Louis XIV., one of the greatest and at
the same time most licentious monarchs of France, who, living
in an atmosphere more redolent of scepticism and more opposed
to Christianity than at that time surrounded any European
court, was yet filled with the greatest desire to be the means of
converting to Christianity the princes of the East. In the
second place, we have that subtle, powerful, unconquerable body
of daring priests, the Jesuits, then in the full ardour of their
missionary schemes ; schemes ostensibly for the purpose of
spreading the gospel, but virtually for bringing mankind under
their absolute sway : a society with the most slender means
doing the most daring and difficult deeds ; now sailing down
some great unexplored river in America, and then teaching
European arts to races of whose existence Europe had no know-
ledge ; one year heard of as traversing the icy mountains and
snowy plains of Siberia, and the next seen preaching the gospel

p 2

212 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

under a burning equatorial sun. Our earliest European
accounts of many of the nations of both the Eastern and
Western worlds are derived from their books ; and in few places
where European civilisation has taken root, have traces of the
Jesuits not been found, though in many cases they are remem-
bered with other feelings than those of gratitude or good-will.
In the third place, we have a Siamese monarch of consummate
ability more European, perhaps, than Asiatic in his ideas
willing to cultivate the friendship of civilised foreigners, and
anxious to induce them to settle in his kingdom. Fourthly, and
lastly, we find a Greek adventurer from Cephalonia acting as
prime minister to this King, and conducting his affairs with an
ability and a success that would be deserving of the highest
admiration, if they did not often display an utter disregard of
principle and of truth. The history of this man is worth
knowing, both from its romantic character, and from the influ-
ence that he exercised in Siam, and over the destinies of the
Jesuit mission sent by Louis XIV.

Constantino Phaulkon, for so was the Siamese premier named,
was the son of respectable people in the island of Cephalonia,
where he was born, in the year 1630. At an early age he gave
indications of his taste for a roving, vagabondish sort of life, and,
when twelve years old, he left " his father's halls," to make a
voyage to England, in a merchant-vessel. His friends were
doubtless sorry to part with the little boy, before whom such an
uncertain future seemed to lie. Little did they dream that young
Constantine would ultimately become prime minister to an
Asiatic king of whom they had never heard, and director of the
affairs of a kingdom whose geography was utterly unknown to
the inhabitants of the Ionian Islands. Constantine arrived safe
in England, and as he was a prompt, quick, intelligent lad, who
walked about with his eyes always open and ever fixed on the
main chance, he soon obtained some commercial employment.
While in England he became a Protestant, whether from convic-
tion or convenience does not appear, but most likely from the

STORY OF CONSTANTINE PHAULKON. 213

latter, as in after years he again became a Catholic. However,
one thing led to another ; the young Greek prospered in the
world, embarked in trade on his own account, and having made
a little money, he bought a ship, freighted her with goods, and as
was often the practice with owners in those days, he embarked
on board his ship, and sailed to the East, on trading purposes
bent. How he doubled the Cape, what ports he touched at, and
what were his ultimate views, are events that have gone, like
many others, without their record ; and the only clear fact that
can be picked up about his voyage is, that his ship was wrecked
at the mouth of the Menam, on the Siamese coast. The loss was
great, but Constantine Phaulkon was saved. That was a great
fact. He appears to have staid some time in the country, for the
next time he is met with, he is able to speak the Siamese
language, an accomplishment that in those days could only be
acquired in Siam. We next find Constantine again wrecked, but
this time on the coast of Malabar, in India. There, however,
he found companions in misfortune, and among them was, strange
to say, a Siamese official, who had been wrecked on the same
coast on his return home from some embassy. What appeared
a sad misfortune to Phaulkon, actually became to him the
reverse. The Greek spoke Siamese well, and having saved
a good deal from the wreck of his ship, he was able to carry
the Siamese ambassador back to his own court. Phaulkon
was received with great favour and honour, and was
speedily elevated to the highest office in the state, next the
King, an office which the French missionaries found him duly
filling.

In these circumstances, so unique and so favourable, the plans
of the Jesuits, for the conversion to Christianity of all Eastern
Asia, were first put in force. The country was divided at the
Vatican, and bishops appointed with authority over the various
districts. The natives of China, Cambogia, and Siam were
profoundly ignorant of the good intentions of the Pope, nor
would it have tended much to remove that ignorance, if they had

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

been told that Francis Pallu, M. de la Motte Lambert, and Ignatius.
Cotolendy were coming to their respective territories, with the
titles of Bishops of Heliopolis, Berytus, and Metellopolis. These
three bishops were Frenchmen, as Louis XIV. wished that the
honour and glory of the enterprise should be associated with
France and his own name. In the year 1660 these priests arrived
in Siam. They were exceedingly well received, and great favour
was shown to them by the King, who gave them a piece of land
on which to build a church. But all their efforts to convert the
monarch failed. He listened patiently to all they had to say, did
not dispute any points with them, but usually wound up the
conference by the quiet remark that, " the Christian religion was
good, but his religion was just as good." The Jesuits, however,
soon mastered the language and opened schools, three of which
they had in successful operation at one time. For about twenty
years the Jesuits laboured hard in their vocation, and introduced
many of the arts of Europe into the country. The King became
so pleased with them, and the country from whence they had
come, that he sent an embassy to the court of Louis XI V., who
was highly nattered by such an attention, and immediately sent
a return embassy with splendid presents. Two years afterwards
he sent another, with more priests, and 500 soldiers, and this
time there appears to have been some intention of conquering
the country.

The second embassy, sent by Louis XIV. to Siam, was headed
by the Chevalier de Chaumont and Father Tachard, ^and
embraced five vessels Le Gaillard, 52 guns ; L'Oiseau, 46 ;
La Loire, 24 ; La Normandie and Le Dromadaire. It left the
port of Brest on the 1st of March, 1687, at seven o'clock in
the morning (the old Jesuit chronicler liked to be rather
particular in some things), and the ships, after a tedious voyage
round the Cape of Good Hope, cast anchor in the Menam on
the 27th day of September, having thus occupied on the voyage
above six months. The Siamese Ambassadors, who returned in
these ships, as soon as the anchor was dropped demanded to be

RECEPTION OF FEENCH EMBASSY. 215

put on shore in order that they might, without the slightest
delay, render their accounts to the King, as, according to Siamese
etiquette, it was necessary that they should have an audience
with the King before they were even permitted to enter their
own houses. The first officer of their own country they met
asked them of course about the objects they had seen, and they
stated, with truly oriental exaggeration, that they had seen
angels not men, and that France was not a kingdom, but a
world. They described in the most pompous and poetical
language the grandeur, the riches, the politeness of the French
people, and tears flowed down their cheeks when they spoke of
the manner in which they had been received, and of the civilities
that had been profusely bestowed upon them by the great
monarch who then ruled France. When they went to make
their reports to the King, his Majesty, in the true Eastern style of
taking matters, coolly and calmly, ordered the senior ambassador
to attend him every day at a certain hour, and then deliver his
report in the form of consecutive lectures. In this easy manner
easy for the lecturer easy for the audience and ^uite in the
fashion of "the thousand and one nights," did the King of Siam
receive his Ambassador's reports respecting a great country and
a mighty nation, that were at the time leading the civilisation of
the world.

When the ambassadors arrived, the King was engaged in
hunting, but he left his sport specially for the purpose of
receiving the Frenchmen. The game he was in pursuit of was
the elephant, an amusement in which his successors do not
appear to have extravagantly indulged. The woods that formed
his hunting grounds contained elephants twelve and thirteen feet
in height, few of them being under ten feet, and all, according to
the Reverend Father Tachard, who describes them with uncommon
piquancy, the most furious of beasts when enraged, and the most
dangerous to hunt. Besides them, there were the rhinoceros, an
animal said to be less dangerous than the elephant and the
tiger, of enormous size, but more easily killed than either of the

216 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

others. The first interview with the King was a mere formal
business, attended with the usual ceremonies, and at which the
chief feature was a grand, eloquent speech, made in French, and
translated to the King. The Jesuits who accompanied the
mission had shortly after an interview with the King, and their
spokesman, this same Father Tachard, told his Majesty that
they, the Jesuits, had suffered much pain, and endured much
grief, in leaving the King of France, their friends, and their dear
country; but that this pain and grief had been sweetened
by the hope that in Siam they would find the great King of the
East that they would find friends, and receive the royal protec-
tion. The benefits which his Siamese Majesty had already
conferred on them, day by day, since their arrival, had made
them forget all the fatigues of their long and painful voyage,
and that they now wished, as their dearest desire, to employ the
rest of their lives in understanding the language of the country
in communicating to the Siamese people a knowledge of the
arts and sciences of Europe, and, above all, a knowledge of the
true God. This speech was accompanied with presents of
astronomical instruments, which were graciously received by
the King, and the use of which he requested the Jesuits to
explain. He said to them, however, very judiciously, that
perhaps they would not find success in the principal object
of their mission so easy as they hoped, but that patience always,
in time, conquered even the greatest obstacles. This audience
lasted two hours, and would have been still further prolonged
had not the King been obliged to cut it short in consequence of
his then suffering from an attack of rheumatism.

Things went on for some time very pleasantly for the French.
They were treated with great respect and distinction by the
King, and were appointed to important offices under him. They,
in general, seemed to like the new country, in which they had
been so well received, but, after a time, they began to show
symptoms of an insolent and a haughty spirit that ultimately
led to their ruin. There was, however, one exception in the

DIFFICULTIES OF THE FRENCH. 217

person of the Count, de Forbin, a blunt, straightforward, honest
sailor, who would not be hood-winked by the clever Phaulkon,
and who saw clearly enough to what issue affairs were tending.
He accepted, with great reluctance, the office of " Admiral and
Generalissimo of the Forces of Siam ; " and, though the King
showed great regard for him, the candid sailor could never dis-
simulate his real feelings of melancholy and uneasiness. One
day, the King happened to rally him on his conduct, and inquired
the reason of his apparent unhappiness. The sailor answered,
that " he esteemed himself very happy to be in the King's
service ; " but he ground his teeth at the same time, clearly
intimating that his reply was a mere piece of etiquette to which
he was obliged to conform. This conduct gave, as might be
supposed, great offence to the King, and, as a matter of course,
to the King's courtiers.

Meanwhile, the intriguing and wily Greek, Constantino
Phaulkon, was making all parties instruments in carrying out
his own deep designs. He kept the King diverted and in good
humour with the displays which the savans, who accompanied
the embassy, could so well make of European science and
learning, and with hopeful visions of the greatness to which the
empire would rise by the introduction of European arts. He
fed the Jesuits by constant hopes of success in their great object
of converting the King to Christianity ; and he satisfied the lay-
men of the expedition by places and emoluments, and prospects
of riches, from the great wealth, as he represented it, of the
kingdom of Siam.

But the aspect of affairs soon changed. Chaumont returned to
France, where he arrived in 1688, just at the time of the English
revolution of that year, and leaving behind him in Siam the
elements of a revolution more sanguinary, and as important in
its results to Siam as that of 1688 was to England. Phaulkon
found the King determined not to embrace Christianity, and
as he could no longer conceal this fact from the Jesuits, he
was obliged to communicate it to them in a letter ostensibly

SI 8 KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

from the King, but evidently the composition of Phaulkon him-
self. This letter was couched in such terms as to cause the con-
fidence of the Jesuits in the prime minister to be greatly shaken.
But a more serious cause of apprehension soon appeared in the
growing enmity of the nobles and the people generally. The
haughtiness and insolence of the French had gone on increasing
until the nobles became alarmed for their own influence. They
saw a body of strangers, superior to themselves in all kinds of
knowledge, but more especially superior in the art of war,
holding high offices in the State, and enjoying the confidence of
the King. 'They felt not only that their own power was weakened,
but that these strangers, in all probability, if allowed to go on
unchecked, would ultimately become masters of the kingdom.
But the time for open action had not arrived, and so they were
content to " bide their time."

The first open symptom of discontent came from Johore.
Johore is the name of a small state at the extreme point of the
Malay peninsula, and at this time its King was tributary to
Siam. In all probability, the King neither knew nor cared any-
thing about the French adventurers and their doings in Siam.
His interest in the matter merely resolved itself into the problem
of how he could escape paying his yearly tribute. But there
were foreign influences at work on the King of Johore. The
Dutch had, from the very first, watched with great jealousy the
proceedings of the French ; and, having settlements near the
Johore /territory, they persuaded the King to send envoys to
the King of Siam, offering the services of his troops to extermi-
nate the strangers from the land. But this offer was rejected
with indignation ; and it was with great difficulty his Majesty
of Siam could be prevented from causing the heads of the
envoys to be cut off, contrary to all usage either in civilised or
barbarous lands.

Soon after this, an event, known in Siamese history as " the
revolt of the Macassars," occurred, which hastened the
revolution, of which the French had sown the seeds. The

EEVOLT OF THE MACASSARS. 219

story connected with this revolt gives us another curious, but
unsatisfactory, glimpse into the otherwise dark history of many
of these eastern lands. Celebes, a large island of a most curious,
irregular shape, situated to the east of Borneo, contains a district
known by the name of Macassar. The King of Macassar had
been dethroned by the Dutch, for some reason which does not
appear, but most probably because it happened at the time to
suit their own purposes. The sons of the dethroned monarch
sought and obtained a refuge in Siam, which, at the time, was
quite an asylum for foreigners in distress, seeing that it likewise
had welcomed three princes of Champa, a neighbouring state.
These refugees brought with them many foreigners in their
train ; and, instead of reciprocating the benefits that the King
showered on them, they entered into a conspiracy to dethrone
him ; to proclaim a younger brother, a mere boy, as his suc-
cessor ; and, under his " phantom crown," to rule the kingdom
of Siam. They also had religious objects in view, for they were
led by a Mahometan priest, and intended, as soon as they were
strong enough, to offer the inhabitants the usual alternative
death or the Koran. But their conspiracy was fortunately
discovered. The French were called in to put it down, and,
after some severe fighting, (for the historians of the day say
that the Macassars fought with ferocious bravery,) it was put
down.

The nobles, however, were soon in a position to unmask their
designs ; and after a series of intrigues and skirmishes, they
succeeded in driving the French from the country, the King was
dethroned, and Constantine Phaulkon suffered a most ignomi-
nious and cruel death. A new dynasty ascended the throne,
and possessed it for about eighty years. During that time Siam
appears to have had little intercourse of any kind with foreign
nations. The country was, however, greatly torn by civil wars,
which weakened it to such an extent that the Burmese, thinking
it would fall an easy prey, invaded Siam, advanced as far as
Yuthia, and would most probably have succeeded in subduing

220 KESJDENCE IN SIAM.

the whole country, had not their King, who was leading the army
in person, died.

In 1765, another Burmese invasion took place, which was
successful. Yuthia was taken, the King killed, and the princes
and princesses carried into captivity. The Siamese, however,
rose as soon as the Burmese general left, and, headed by a chief
of Chinese descent (who proclaimed himself King), again
established the independence of their country. This King
removed the capital to Bangkok ; but though the early years of
his reign were marked by justice and wisdom, the latter were
characterised by frightful acts of cruelty. A rebellion took
place, led by one of the generals, in which the King was
dethroned and killed, and the successful general reigned in his
stead. Another Burmese invasion took place in 1786, but this
time it was unsuccessful ; and since that time the Siamese have
been engaged in no foreign war of any consequence.

TOBACCO PLANT.

KECENT EMBASSIES TO SIAM.

EECENT EMBASSIES TO SIAM.

HE Portuguese, it would ap-
pear, were the first European
people that had intercourse
with the Siamese, An enter-
prising nation, without many
rivals, who had discovered the
way to India by the Cape of
Good Hope, was not likely to
rest contented with one or two
settlements on barren islands,
when the whole wealth of the
oldest part of the old world
seemed opened up to them. Their settlements were admirably
chosen, whether on the isle of Ormuz at the mouth of the Persian
Gulf, or on Goa off the coast of Malabar. Their trade extended
to all the islands in the Eastern seas, and their power and fame
were undoubtedly very great among all the nations of the East ;
for, as we saw in the previous chapter, their friendship and
alliance were courted by the Siamese kings, and valuable trading
privileges offered to them. The Dutch also had, from an early
period, considerable intercourse with the Siamese ; but the pro-
ceedings of the French appear to have, and very naturally,
alarmed the Siamese, and given rise to that jealous feeling
against, and dread of, Europeans, that form the greatest obstacles
to commercial intercourse with them. In the early history of the
European power in the East, the native inhabitants appear not

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

as hostile and jealous, but rather as friendly and unsuspecting ;
anxious to give the strangers, in whom they acknowledged
many points of superiority, a friendly welcome, and to turn
those points to mutual advantage. But a closer acquaintance
with the European character led to a change of this policy.
The Asiatic soon saw in his pale-faced brother of Europe a
soldier as well as a trader ; an ambitious diplomatist as well as
a clever merchant. That power, derived from force of character
and strength of mind, which the men of the East saw in the
men of the "West, became a suspicious quality to be guarded
against. The inferior race felt its inferiority, but its Asiatic
pride ordered it not to succumb. Nor did the actions of the
Europeans in any way tend to diminish this feeling. The usual
acts of their power were three : first, they got a factory ;
second, a fort ; and third, they became the ruling power. In
India, and all along the eastern islands, this epitome of their
history was illustrated by example crowding after example,
which had a striking effect on those princes who were yet in a
position to reject an alliance that seemed, through the influence
of some infallible and irresistible fate, to lead to national degra-
dation. In Siam, and the more eastern countries, this idea was
fostered by the numbers of Chinese merchants who had found a
home, and who were living handsomely on the fruits of that
commerce which the Europeans desired to share, if not to mono-
polise. But these Chinese emigrants were in a very different
position from that which would be occupied by a body of
emigrants from Europe. The laws of China prohibit emigration.
When a Chinaman leaves his country, he ceases to have any
claim on his government ; and when he settles in a foreign
land, it is usually, not to get rich as fast as he can and then go
home, but to live and die ; to marry a wife of his adopted
nation ; and to become, to all intents and purposes, one of that
nation himself. But with Europeans the case was' different.
The emigrants never forgot their country, and their country
never forgot them. The Chinese might be injured, robbed, and

MR. CEAWFUED'S EMBASSY. 223

murdered, and the Chinese Government would not interfere ;
but injury to a European subject was welcomed by his country
as an excuse for a demand for redress, if not a declaration
of war.

If, therefore, we find these eastern nations hard to deal with
now; if we find them jealous, cunning, and deceitful, and dis-
posed to look with suspicion on even our most sincere offers, let
us always remember the lessons they have received, the exam-
ples to which they can point, and the long bill of indictment
they can run up against every nation of Europe that has
attempted, by force, fraud, or fair dealing, to make settlements
in the East. Even in our own day such examples have not
altogether ceased ; and any acute Chinaman might overset the
entire object of a mission to Siam by repeating and applying,
'mutatis mutandis, the expression of a worthy member of the
House of Commons, that " the English had been appointed by
Divine Providence to be the rulers of India." Whether this
right be claimed by the English people or the English Crown,
the Chinaman would not have much difficulty in showing by
examples that it was a " right divine to govern wrong."

In 1821 a British embassy was sent to Siam under the care of
John Crawfurd, Esq., by the Governor-General of India, then the
Marquis of Hastings. The embassy was intended likewise for
the King of Cochin-China, whose dominions border those of the
King of Siam. The instructions given to Mr. Crawfurd were
both judicious and minute, but it unfortunately happened that,
in addition to the ordinary difficulties of dealing with a proud,
jealous king, and cunning, deceitful courtiers and subordinates,
his task was rendered doubly difficult and complex, by em-
bracing subjects both of a commercial and political nature, the
latter involving at the same time the authority of the King of
Siam over a tributary subject, and the character of Britain for
hospitality.

This political question hampered and embarrassed the whole
negotiation. It might be doubtful whether a favourable result

224 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

would have been obtained had this question not existed, but
most certainly, so long as this question remained unsettled, a
successful result was not to be hoped for. The affair in itself
was paltry enough. The Kings of Queda and Pera, two petty
states in the peninsula of Malacca, that are little other than a
narrow strip of sea coast, scarcely extending, when put together,
through three degrees of latitude, had in some way or other
embroiled themselves with the King of Siam, to whom they
were tributary, and had sought the protection of the Governor of
Prince of Wales' Island. The English Governor tried to mediate
in the dispute, but the only conditions to which the Siamese
King would listen were, that the two tributary monarchs should
make their appearance at Bangkok, and be dealt with according
to their offences. This was a course which these miserable
creatures, with the title of king, had too great a regard for their
own precious persons to pursue ; and, accordingly, the Siamese
King was still more incensed.

Mr. Crawfurd had repeated interviews, conducted with great
regard to Siamese etiquette, before the real business of the
embassy could be entered on. The first of these was with the
Governor of Paknam, who invited the members of the embassy
to an excellent repast. At this banquet, one person was present
whose company had not been calculated on. About the period
of Mr. Crawfurd's leaving Calcutta, or about five months before
the day on which they were then dining, the Governor of Pak-
nam, brother of their present host, had departed this life, and
his body, " lying in a cofiin, covered with tinsel and white cloth,
and a profusion of aromatics," was placed behind a curtain in
this dining-room, waiting for such burial as it is customary for
the Siamese to give their dead. The host did not, however, wish,
like the ancient Egyptians, to point a moral and remind his
guests that " they were dust, and unto dust they must return,"
but the body was there to fulfil a certain number of days of lying
in state, and the Englishmen would have been ignorant of its
presence, if they had not, like all other curious observers, wanted

MR. CEAWFUED'S EMBASSY. 225

to know what there was " behind the scenes." After this banquet
was finished, a perfect battery of questions, many of them most
impertinent, if not offensive, was opened on Mr. Crawfurd by
the Governor, the aim being to ascertain the real object of the
mission, and to get a knowledge of the presents that had been
brought to the king from the Governor-General of India. About
these presents, a most avaricious spirit was displayed ; a list of
them was demanded, and this was compared with the presents
sent on shore, and disputes constantly arose about alleged
discrepancies between the list and the articles.

The second interview was with the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
whose questions were similar to those of the Governor of Paknam,
but less rude and impertinent. Then followed an interview with
the Crown Prince, in which a whole host of questions were put
and answered. The fourth interview was to be with the king
himself, and the 8th of April, 1 822, was fixed as the eventful
day. Mr. Crawfurd had thus been fifteen days in the country
before he was permitted to see the king. The interview was
attended with ceremonies similar to those described in the
preceding pages : questions were put and answers given, and
it ended in the abrupt manner usual with Siamese kings.

It was eight days after this interview with the king, ere any
attempt was made on the part of the Siamese to give Mr.
Crawfurd an opportunity of entering on the real business of the
mission. The first interview resulted in nothing. The Siamese
Minister was told that the English " wished the imposts upon
European commerce at Siam lightened,, and the intercourse
rendered in all respects so free and fair as to make it agreeable
to both parties." This was immediately met by the demand
that not less than four ships should come yearly to Siam ; the
reason assigned for this being that two years previously a com-
mercial treaty had been made with the Portuguese, in which the
import duties were reduced from eight to six per cent. ; but no-
Portuguese ships had since that time come to Siam. Six days,
afterwards, a second interview took place, which lasted from

Q

KESIDENCE IN SIAM.

nine to twelve o'clock at night, and which turned chiefly on the
security for the persons and properties of British subjects
resorting to Siam, a security which the Siamese were unwilling
to guarantee, saying, very truly, that British subjects in Siam
must submit to the laws of the country. Twelve days after this
intimation came that the negotiation must be further postponed
in consequence of all the great officers of state being engaged in
arrangements for removing the king's residence from one part
of the palace to another! His Majesty having been safely
removed, a third interview was held with his chief minister.
The chief point insisted on by the Minister at this interview
was the king's right, through his agents, to select such goods from
trading vessels as he thought proper, and offering for them his own
prices. Should the captain refuse to sell at those prices, none of
the king's subjects dare buy at higher rates, and the alternative
usually was, either to accept the king's prices or to depart
without effecting a sale. In either case the voyage would be
attended with a decided loss. This, of course, Mr. Crawfurd
strongly objected to, as it must evidently check commercial
enterprise, to say nothing of its obvious unfairness. But free-
trade is unknown at Siam, and the king, through his minister,
naturally refused the slightest concession on this point. Here
the mission may be said to have terminated. While such a
privilege remains, and is asserted, no foreign nation can have
any encouragement to trade with the Siamese. A visitation of
the cholera and the arrival of an embassy from Cochin-China,
again interrupted the negotiation ; but it might have ended
here. At the next interview the political question was discussed ;
and at the next after that ; the feeling displayed on the subject
by the Siamese being so strong as to compel Mr. Crawfurd to
use language " such as a Siamese minister could not have been
much accustomed to." The negotiation dragged its slow length
along for a few more days, and only resulted in a vague promise
on the part of the king to give English trading ships all the
encouragement in his power.

AMERICAN EMBASSY. 227

The last embassy to Siam of any note or importance was that
from the United States of America, under the charge of
Mr. Eliot, the Envoy. The " Peacock," American sloop of war,
which had then been for several years cruising on a scientific
and exploring expedition in the Eastern Seas, was, one fine
morning, quite unexpectedly, reported to have anchored off the
Bar of Siam, much to the delight of the Europeans resident at
Bangkok, especially the American missionaries, and not a little
to the discomfort of the Siamese, who looked upon these visita-
tions from men-of-war as neither more nor less than the precursor
to a general invasion of their country, and considered the officers
and men of the expedition as so many spies, who, under the plea
of scientific acquirements, were laying plans and devising schemes
for the easiest and most effectual method of subduing the empire.
Not a leaf was plucked or a stone picked up by the curious and
learned that accompanied the expedition to add to their stock of
mineralogical and botanical curiosities, but the act was attri-
buted to some sinister purposes. Kegularly paid and enlisted
spies dodged their every movement, and reported proceedings
regularly at head quarters. The reception of the mission was
barely civil, and exacted only so much respect as was inculcated
by a wholesome dread of consequences, and the fact of a vessel
of war, well armed and equipped, being actually on the spot,
ready at a moment's warning to vindicate the honour of the
American flag. Many tempting propositions were made by the
Envoy in his endeavours to persuade the Siamese Government to
swerve a little from the cold and rigid formalities attendant on
the then existing treaties between Siam and other European
Powers, and Brother Jonathan strove mightily and warily to
ingratiate the officers of state, so that their influence might tend
to facilitate pending negotiations ; but all was in vain. Gifts
and civilities were received and returned assurances given
and faith pledged that the amelioration of the interests of both
parties should be always a weighty consideration ; but further
than this, nothing could be effected. No ratified treaty or

Q 2

228 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

written document could be obtained ; and the " Peacock " sailed
again, taking with her the Envoy and his party ; the officers
highly delighted with the many pleasant hours they had passed
in the society of European friends, both in following up the wild
sports of the East and in the more social enjoyment of dinner
parties and picnics ; but the diplomatic portion of the expedi-
tion sadly chagrined to think that all their efforts for the
bettering of American traffic had been as futile and void of
success as all the like embassies had heretofore proved.
Oysterlike, the Siamese King vastly preferred being entirely
dependent for all the comforts and luxuries of this life upon the
resources that were enclosed within that shell his own kingdom.
It remains for England the most enterprising country in the
world to penetrate into the heart of an unknown country
abounding with unheard-of resources, and rich beyond compu-
tation, and there to establish a firm footing for trade, and one
which will open to the ports of Great Britain and of our vast
Indian Empire additional markets for our manufactures, and
new and rich fields for our trade.

SIAMESE SONGS.

229

SIAMESE SONGS.

^^^^^-^ -== _ HEN Loubere visited Siam in

1687, lie reported" I could not
* \ get a Siamese song well trans-
s lated, so different is their way
of thinking from ours ; yet I
have seen some pictures, as, for
example, of a pleasant garden,
where a lover invites his mis-
tress to come. I have also seen
some expressions which, to me,
appeared full of gross immo-
rality, although this had not the
same effect in their language.
But besides love-songs, they have, likewise, some historical and
moral songs : I have heard the Pagayeurs sing some, of which
they made me to understand the sense. Some have told me
that one of the brothers to the King of Siam composed some
moral poems, very highly esteemed, to which he himself set the
tune."

I am able, however, to give translations of two songs, which
will give some idea of what these productions are among the
Siamese.

230 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

THE BOATMAN'S SONG.

AN amorous Siamese swain, stricken with, the charms of
some black-toothed damsel, has composed a song which is
much in vogue amongst the boatmen class, and which being
translated is, to a foreigner's ears, almost as charming as the
Nigger Song of " de Boatmen Dance" and infinitely less melo-
dious. The maiden's name is Chin, one very common amongst
Siamese and Burmese.

A happy and reckless youth I am,

As I ply my boat on the deep Menam ;

My song shall end, and my song begin, *

In praise of thee, my darling Chin.

Chorus.

Begin with the head, and end with the toes :
My praise shall be strong as the tide that flows.

Who that has seen has e'er forgot
Thy pretty hair tied in a sweet knot ;
And prettier still than the tuft of hair
Thy brow, unwrinkled by grief or care.

Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

The eyebrows black, I'm sure that each
Is as shiny as any fine healthy leech :
No elephant, white, black, short, or tall,
Can boast of such eyes, so loving and small.
Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

As for thy nose, I'm certain that
None other has one so wide and flat :
And the ebony's bark, in its core beneath,
Was never so black as thy shiny teeth.

Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

THE CULPEIT PRIEST'S LAMENT. 231

Complexion of gold, and a high cheekbone,
Such treasures with pride would a princess own.
Right proud am I to woo and win
Such a lovely bride as my darling Chin.

Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

Thy frame is as light as the forest stag,
And as strong and firm as a rocky crag :
Thy feet and toes (the more good luck)
As pretty and broad as the web-footed duck.
7 Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

My life I'd give a prize to him
Who produces a wife like thee can swim ;
Or paddle with skill a heavy canoe,
'Gainst the mightiest wind that ever blew.
Cho. Begin with the head, &c.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This translation may give some
faint idea of the general elegance of Siamese verse, and the sing-
song, droning nature of the music, but too fitly adapted to the
poetry.

THE CULPRIT PRIEST'S LAMENT.

IN a preceding chapter I have alluded to the celibacy of the
priests of Siam. Any departure from this is severely punished,
and the following is a translation of a lament supposed to be
uttered by a guilty priest, previous to his suffering along with
his partner in guilt the dreadful punishment attached to their
transgression.

I was as a bird on the banian tree,

In the heat of the sultry day,
That vainly sought from the hawk to flee,

As its shadow pass'd o'er that way ;

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

As the bird's heart flutters beneath the gaze

Of the falcon's deadly eye :
So fluttered mine, when in sore amaze,

I saw thy form draw nigh ;

For never on earth or on sea before,

Had I seen a thing so bright ;
Thy face was love, and thy smile was more

Eesplendent than the light :
And thy tread was as soft as the timid doe,

When it noiselessly seeks the brook ;
And the terror that fill'd me, who can know

When entranced by thy first look ?

I trembling imagined in thee I saw

A spirit from realms above,
And my aching heart grew sad and sore,

With hopeless madd'ning love.
In fascination's powerful spell

I was bound as the bird is bound,
Which, ere to the serpent's jaw it fell,

Flew circling round and round ;

For I hover'd by day around the spot,

Where I knew that danger dwelt ;
And the cares and sorrows of life forgot,

In the rapturous bliss I felt.
When a smile or a glance like a cheering ray

Of sunlight pierced my breast,
And vainly I sought to hie me away

From thy charms and be at rest.

And cursed be the day and the fatal hour

I learned to love thee well ;
For a hidden sting lurk'd beneath the flower,

And loving, I sinn'd, and fell

THE CULPEIT PRIESTS LAMENT.

And a fearful doom waits thee and me,

A fearful doom indeed ;
'Twere better to drown 'neath the fathomless sea,

Or on battle-field to bleed.

Behold the faggots blaze up high,

The smoke is black and dense ;
The sinews burst, and crack, and fly :

Oh suffering intense !
The roar of fire and shriek of pain,

And the blood that boils and splashes ;
These all consume the search were vain

For the lovers' mingled ashes.

Q33

SIAMESE PUNISUilEKT.

234

EES1DENCE IN SIAM.

SIAMESE MUSIC.

THE accompanying cut gives a just and striking picture of a
Siamese band of musicians. Their instruments are extremely
primitive, such as one might imagine were in vogue in the days
of the psalmist David. The hautboy player is seldom, like the
rest of his brother musicians, seated on the floor. This import-
ant individual, who is usually the leader of the band, chooses a
kneeling posture, as the one not only best suited to his dignity,
but as affording him more freedom of action ; and he might as
soon be expected to jump over the moon, as to play an air,
however doleful and dolorous, without swaying his body to and

SIAMESE MUSICIANS. 235

fro to keep time with the movements of the melody. The band-
master is usually professionally a snake-charmer, and his
long practice in that rather unenviable calling, has forced on
him the habit of rocking his body to and fro with greater or
less energy, as the time and cadence of the music may require.
Without this, he could never fascinate the cobra, who with head
erect, and venomed tongue stuck out in the air, is compelled,
whilst under the deep spell of music, to follow every motion of
the charmer, longing, yet totally unable either to stir from
the spot, or to dart its envenomed fangs into the heart's blood of
him it would fain destroy, and yet cannot resist implicitly
obeying. The Siamese band-master and snake-charmer prefers
this position, because it gives his arms full swing, and whilst
playing on with one hand, and keeping the cobra's head and
neck in perpetual motion, he cautiously withdraws the other
hand, and watching for a favourable moment, darts at the
serpent's neck, and firmly holding on till the whole body of the
creature has been wove round his arm, coolly proceeds by the
aid of a small pair of pincers to extract the snake's teeth and
venom bag : and then the cobra has become a harmless play-
thing. So, in his double profession of musician and snake-
charmer, this individual demands no small degree of respect
from his brethren. His instrument has six holes for notes, is
roughly and carelessly shaped, has no keys, and has only
acquired a high polish from the fact of its having been con-
tinually handled about and played upon during the last ten or
fifteen years. The wood of which it is made is commonly from
the jack-fruit tree, a wood capable of receiving a high polish, and
in my opinion admirably adapted for guitars. The tones pro-
duced by this Siamese hautboy, even at the best of time, and
whilst executing the liveliest airs, are heart-rendingly dolorous
and out of tune ; nothing will bear comparison with it, with the
exception, perhaps, of old and cracked bagpipes, such as the
Frenchmen supposed had occasioned the death of all the
nightingales in Scotland, Next to the band-master comes the

236 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

performer on the Siamese pianoforte. 'This, however, is in
reality strictly a Burmese instrument of Burmese invention,
and on which the Burmese far excel their fiat-nosed neighbours.
The notes consist of oblong pieces of wood, hewn and shaped
from the cashoo-nut tree, and varying in size from six inches by
one broad, to fourteen inches by two; these are strung upon
pieces of twine, a knot intervening between each note to prevent
jarring and confusion. These are fastened on a mahogany stand
of about three feet in length and a foot high ; and the method
of performing upon this instrument is by striking them with two
knob-ended batons, one of which the player holds in either
hand. The effect is harmonious. The notes are regular, and
admit of a vast scope for cadence and harmony of touch, and
there are some of the Burmese who fly over the notes with
amazing rapidity and precision.

After the piano-forte player comes the performer on the
luptuma, an instrument purely of Siamese invention, and which
consists of from ten to a dozen long perforated reeds, or young
bamboos, in a double range confined together by means of a
hollow, wooden band, and closely cemented with wax, so as to
prevent the escape of air or sound. The orifice at one end is
applied to the mouth, and no skill is required in producing the
most melodious sounds sometimes loud and sweet enough to
resemble the peal from a church organ. The man has merely to
blow into this orifice, and, with his fingers, cover or open the
little holes that are perforated into the eanes on either row just
above the tube that is applied to the mouth. The tabour player
comes next: his is an instrument common to all eastern
nations ; it consists of a baked earthen vessel, with very much
the shape of an hour glass, open at both ends to one of which a
piece of sheep's skin or parchment is firmly attached. Striking
on this, he keeps time with the rest of the musicians ; and it
answers very much the same purposes as a kettle-drum. Lastly
in the circle of performers, we come to the veritable banjo with
this difference in its construction, that it is manufactured

SIAMESE MUSIC.

237

entirely out of a large long-necked gourd, which, when green,
is sliced in halves longways, cleared of pulp and seed, and so left
to dry in the sun. When dry, the aperture is covered with
parchment, and from four to six strings strung after the fashion
of a guitar. Its notes are melodious enough when well touched,
and it is capable of forming an excellent accompaniment to the
voice. These constitute a Siamese band, with the addition only,
on large processions and festive occasions, of a big drum and a
set of triangles. I consider the Siamese music execrable ; nor,
indeed, is there any nation in the East that can be said to possess
even the first rudiments of music, save and except the Malays
inhabiting the straits, of Malacca*

238 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

SIAMESE LANGUAGE.

THE subject of the Siamese language is much too extensive
to be treated of in a work like this, that does not aspire higher
than to be a personal narrative. Still a few specimens may be
given of the words in most common use, denoting the most
familiar articles :

Pra a great cleaver, used as a hatchet.

Ciou a joiner's chisel.

Lendi a saw.

Kob a joiner's plane.

Quiob a spade.

Reuang a house.

Savu the bamboo pillars which bear the house.

Root the two transverses or bamboos laid across, along the
front and along the back part of a house.

Preuang hurdles serving to plank the lower or first floor.

Fak sticks flattened and joined together at equal distances,
to lay over the floor instead of a carpet.

Mesa the mother wall ; it consists of the hurdles or wainscot-
ing which serves as the outward wall.

Fa the hurdles which make the principal enclosures.

Lank fa the son of the enclosure, that is to say the lesser
enclosures.

Krdbouang the tiles.

Pe the roof.

Hong a chamber.

Gadai the ladder of the house.

SIAMESE LANGUAGE. 239

Te-non the place where the bed is to lie on when they have no

bedstead. Non signifies to sleep ; te signifies a place.
Mon a pillow.
Fouk-song-non the mattress : song signifies under, and non

to sleep.

Prom a, carpet for the feet.
Hip a chest.

Hip-lin a chest with drawers.
He-can a pot to put water in ; can signifies a pot ; me means

mother.

Touas a porcelain plate or dish.
Quion a spoon.
Mid a knife.
Mid-caune a razor ; caune signifies to shave, so that the word

literally means a knife to shave, or a shaving-knife.
Tim-quian a candlestick ; quian is a candle of yellow wax.
Lom-pok a bonnet of ceremony; lorn signifying bonnet, and

pok high.

Pa-naung a linen sash, worn round the lower part of the body.
Lena-kao the muslin shirt.
Nook a hat.
Penn-nok-sap a musket.
Peun a cannon ; with the addition of yai, it means a great

cannon.

Touan a lance.
Dab a sabre.
Kantar a bow.
TJiam hai san to shorten.
TJiam o mong to mine.
Rang hai to weep.
Kep wai to retain.
Chak k, hrai to wish.
Tang prass to incur a fine.
Chai an of a tender disposition.
Chai reo of a quick apprehension.

240 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Mee-ndm chai discreet, polite.

Tang Jean necessary.

Tak chai nuk naa greatly alarmed.

Satrookun inimical.

Me tern paee plentiful.

Tern su nook delightful.

Tern chang spiteful.

Mee pan ya wise.

K, ho hokMse.

Deug deug reddish.

Dam dam blackish.

Mai so dee tolerably well.

Mai k, lod fearless.

T, hee dak mdi a flower pot.

Tj hee fang p, liee a place of burial.

Nok yoong a peacock ; literally, a bird.

Chess sick.

K) hwam chess sickness.

Kwam eudoo kindness.

T, han how.

Khee how many.

Khrai who.

Dai what.

Rai what ?

Mak many.

Ndee ^few.

Tai great.

Lek little.

Taau long.

San short.

Nd t, hee nee come here.

Aneetcha sister. *"

Pau (ke) tre sound the trumpet.

Me-hek ^loadstone, or mother of iron.

K, hongk, ha ^water ; literally, the Goddess Gunga.

SIAMESE LANGUAGE.

241

Lau chaee grandson.

Lau yeeng granddaughter.

Po grandfather.

Yd& grandmother.

Achaee uncle.

Taphaee aunt.

Phee eldest brother or sister.

Pang youngest brother or sister.

Samee D p hoa husband.

Me-a wife.

Maiesse que en.

Akk-Jia mahesse princess.

Pum a potato.

Bootchee son.

Bootyeug daughter.

1 Nung.
2 Sang.
3 Sam.
4 See.
5 Ha.
QHok.
1Chet.
8 P&.
9Kau.

10 Seep.
II Seep bet.
12 Seep sang.
13 Seep sdm.
14 Tee seep.
100 Rae mung.
1000 P,hau nung.
10,000 Nun nung.
100,000 Seu nung.

o

RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

LOUBEIBE'S ACCOUNT OF THE SIAMESE.

IT has often been remarked of the natives of the East that
they are almost unchangeable in their modes of government,
habits of life, and ways of thinking. Century after century
passes away unmarked by progress and undistinguished by
change. Traveller succeeds traveller at long intervals of time
and each repeats unconsciously the observations and diffuses the
information of the other.

The Siamese certainly form no exception to this remark.
Such as they were in the days of the early Jesuit missionaries-
such are they found now. La Loubdrt visited them in 1687, and
published a book descriptive of the country and its inhabitants*
which, with little change, would apply equally well to Siam
and the Siamese of the present day. Where is the nation of
Europe of which the same could be said 1 The England of 1688
was very different from the England of 1852. The activity, the
restlessness, and the change of any year between these two dates
would almost crowd a century of the history of such countries
as Siam.

In illustration of this, the following translations from Loubere's
interesting, and now rare work, will, it is hoped, prove
of value :

"DRESS or THE SIAMESE.

"The Siamese hardly clothe themselves. Tacitus reports
concerning the German infantry, in his time, that it was either
all naked or covered with light coats, and even at this present
time (1688) there are some savages in North America who go
almost naked, which proves, in my opinion, that the simplicity

LOUBEKE'S DESCEIPTION OF THE SIAMESE DBESS. 243

of manners, as well as the heat, is the cause of the nakedness of
the Siamese as it is of the nudity of these savages. It is not that
clothes are insupportable to the French who visit Siam, but it is
not healthy for them to unclothe themselves, because the injuries
of excessively hot air are not less serious than those of extremely
cold air ; yet with this difference, that in very hot climates it is
sufficient for health to cover the stomach. The Spaniards do for
this reason cover it with a buffalo's skin ; but the Siamese,
whose manners are plain in everything, have chosen to habituate
themselves from their infancy to an almost entire nudity.

" They go with their feet naked and their head bare, and for
decency only they gird their reins and thighs, down to the knees,
with a piece of painted cloth, about two yards and a half long,
which the Portuguese call pagne. Sometimes, instead of a painted
cloth, the pagne is a silken stuff, either plain or embroidered with
gold and silver.

" The mandarins or officers wear, besides the pagne, a muslin
shirt, which serves as a kind of vest. They pluck it off and wrap
it about their middle when they approach a mandarin much
higher in dignity, to express to him their readiness to go where
he may please to send them. These shirts have no neck-band,
and are open before. The sleeves hang down almost to their
wrists, being about two feet wide, but without being plaited
above or below.

" In winter they sometimes put over their shoulders a breadth
of stuff or painted linen, either like a mantle or a scarf, the ends
of which they wind very neatly about their arms.

" B But the King of Siam wears a vest of some excellent satin,
brocaded, the sleeves of which are very straight, and reach
down to the wrist, and as we apparel ourselves against the
cold under our waistcoats, he puts this next under the shirt
which I have described, and which he adorns with lace or
European paint. It is not lawful for any Siamese to wear this
sort of vest, unless the King gives it to him, and he makes this
present only to the most considerable of his officers.

R 2

244 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

" He sometimes also gives them another vest or garment of
scarlet, which is to be worn only in war or at hunting. This
garment reaches to the knees, and has eight or ten buttons
in front. The sleeves are wide, but without ornament, and so
short that they do not reach the elbows.

" The difference between the dress of the women and that of
the men is, that the women fastening their pagne lengthwise
round their bodies, in the same way as the men do, let it fall
down broadways, somewhat like a close coat, so as to reach
half way down the leg ; whereas the men tie the two ends of the
pagne tightly around their loins. The women have no covering
but the pagne, but among the rich it is not unusual to wear a
scarf. They sometimes wrap the ends of the scarf about their
arms, but the most fashionable way, and that which is considered
as the best to set off their beauty, is to put it singly over their
bosoms at the middle, smooth the wrinkles, and let the two
ends hang down behind over their shoulders.

" They wear rings on the three last fingers of each hand, and
the fashion permits them to put on as many as can possibly be
kept on. They wear no necklaces, but the women and children
wear ear-rings, generally of gold, silver, or vermilion gilt, and
in the shape of a pear. The boys and girls of a good family
have bracelets, but only to six or seven years of age, and they
equally wear them on their arms or legs. They are of the same
material as the ear-rings."

" PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE SIAMESE.

" The Siamese are rather small in stature, but their bodies are
well proportioned, which I principally attribute to their not swad-
dling in their infancy. The care that we take to form the shape
of our children is not always so successful as the liberty which
they leave to nature to proceed in forming theirs. The shape of
the face in both men and women is more of an oval than a
lozenge ; it is broad and high at the cheek-bones, but the fore-

LOVE OF GAMBLING. JU5

head suddenly contracts and terminates almost as much in a
point as the chin. Their eyes are small and not over brisk, and
the white thereof is generally yellowish. Their jaws are hollow
by reason they are too high above, their mouths are large, their
lips thick and pale, and their teeth blackened. Their complexion
is coarse and of a brown mixed with red, to which the continual
sun-burning very much contributes.

" The hair is black, thick, and lank, and both sexes wear it so
short that all round the head it reaches only to the tip of the
ears. Underneath this they are very closely shaved, and this
fashion greatly pleases them. The women raise the hair on
their forehead, but without fastening it again, and some let it
grow behind to wreathe it. The young unmarried wear it after
a particular manner. They cut with scissors very close the
crown of the head, and then all round they pull off a small
circle of hair about the thickness of two crown-pieces, and under-
neath they let the rest of their hair grow down almost to the
shoulders. The Spaniards, by reason of the heat, frequently
shave the crown of the head in this manner, but they pluck off
nothing.

" They take care of their teeth, although they black them ;
they wash their hair with water and sweet oils as the Spaniards
do. They use combs brought from China, which, instead of
being all of a piece, like ours, are only a great many points or
teeth tied close together with wires. They pluck the beard, of
which they naturally have little, but they do not cut their nails,
being satisfied with keeping them neat."

"SIAMESE LOVE OF GAMBLING.

" The Siamese love gaming to such an excess as to ruin them-
selves and lose their liberty, or that of their children ; for, in this
country, whoever has not wherewith to satisfy his creditor, sells
his children to discharge his debt ; and if this is insufficient, he
himself becomes a slave."

246 BESIDENCE IN SIAM.

MINES OF SIAM.

THE following account, given by Loubejre, of the mines of Siam,
fully bears out the statements in the preceding pages regarding
the probable existence of great metallic wealth in the country :

" No country has a greater reputation for being rich in mines
than Siam; and the great number of idols and other works of art
cast in metal shows that these mines have been better cultivated
in former times than now. It is believed, likewise, that they
thence extracted that great quantity of gold with which they
have adorned not only their innumerable idols but the wainscot
and roofs of their temples. They have likewise found many pits
bearing marks of antiquity, and the remains of a great many
furnaces, which are thought to have been abandoned during the
wars with Pegu.

" The king who now reigns has not been able to find any vein
of gold or silver that would repay the expense of working,
although he has employed in this work some Europeans, and
among the rest a Spaniard who had been in Mexico, and who
found, if not a great fortune, at least his subsistence during
twenty years, even up to the period of his death, by flattering
the avarice of this prince with the imaginary promises of infinite
treasure. After having dug and mined in several places they
found only some very mean copper mines, though intermixed
with a little gold and silver. Five hundred-weight of ore
scarcely yielded an ounce of metal.

" From Siam we brought back Mr. Vincent, the physician.
He understood mathematics and chemistry, and the King of
Siam retained him some time at the work in his mines. He
rectified the labours of the Siamese in some things, so that they
could obtain a little more profit than formerly. He showed
them a mine of very good steel (iron ?) at the top of a mountain,
which had already been worked, but which they had not

PREPARING TEA. 247

perceived. He discovered also one of antimony and several
others, as well as a quarry of white marble. Besides this, he
found out a gold-mine, which to him appeared very rich, as far
as he was able to judge without trying it ; but he did not show
it to the natives. Several Siamese, mostly Talapoins or Priests,
came secretly to consult him about the art ,of purifying and
separating metals, and brought him various specimens of very
rich ore. From some he extracted a very good quantity of fine
silver, and from others a variety of metals.

" The Siamese have iron mines, but they are not very pro-
ductive, and besides, the natives are bad forgemen. They obtain
padlocks from Japan, some of which are of iron, and are very
good ; others are of copper, and are very bad."

The King of Siam, who reigned when Loubere was there, had,
among other reasons for supposing that his country abounded in
mines of gold and silver, the following, which is worth noticing,
on account of its originality : Extensive mines of gold and silver
exist in Mexico and Peru ; as Siam is nearly the antipodes to
those countries, and as the king supposed the metallic veins
must pass right through the earth, it naturally followed that the
gold and silver of Mexico and Peru must reappear on the other
side of the world in Siam !

"MODE OF PREPARING TEA.

" The Siamese prepare their tea in this manner. They have
copper pots tinned on the inside wherein the water is boiled.
It is boiled very quickly, because the copper is very thin. This
copper comes from Japan, if my memory fails me not, and. it is
so easy to work that I question whether we have any so pliant
in Europe. These pots are called boulis, and on the other hand
they have boulis of red earth, which is without taste, though
without varnish. They first rinse the earthen pot with boiling
water to heat it ; then they put in as much tea as one can take
up with the finger and thumb, and afterwards fill it with boiling

248 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

water, and after having covered it they still pour boiling water
on the outside : they do not stop the spout as we do. When the
tea is sufficiently infused, that is to say, when the leaves are
precipitated, they pour the liquor into china dishes, which, at
first, they fill only half, to the end that if it appear too strong
they may temper it by pouring in water, which they still keep
boiling in the copper pot. They continue adding boiling water
to the earthen pot until they find that the strength of the tea is
gone. They put no sugar into the dishes, because they have
none refined which is not candy, and it melts too slowly. They,
therefore, take a little in the mouth and champ it as they drink
the tea. When they would have no more tea they turn the cup
down on the saucer, because it is the greatest incivility in them
to refuse anything, and if they left the cup standing they would
be served with more tea, which they are obliged to receive. But
they forbear to fill the dish unless they wish to testify to the
guest that he is not expected to come back to the house, in
which case the dish is re-filled, even though the cup be turned
down."

" SIAMESE HOUSES.

" The houses of the Siamese are small, but surrounded with
pretty large grounds. Hurdles of cleft bamboo, often not closely
compacted, make the floors, walls, and roof. The piles on which
they are erected to avoid the inundations are bamboos as thick
as a man's leg, and about thirteen feet above the ground, by
reason that the waters sometimes rise to that height : there are
never more than four or six, on which other bamboos are laid
across instead of beams. The stairs are a ladder of bamboo,
which hangs on the outside like the ladder of a windmill. And,
as their stables also are in the air, they have climbers made of
hurdles by which the cattle enter.

" If every house stands single, it is rather for the privacy of
the family, which would be discovered through such thin walls,
than for fear of fire. They make their little fire in the courts and

COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS. 249

none in the houses ; and in any case it is impossible for a fire to
do any great damage. Three hundred houses, which were
burned at Siam in our time, were rebuilt in two days. On a
time when a bomb was shot to please the King of Siam, who
beheld it at a distance, from one of the windows of his palace, it
was necessary, for this purpose, to remove three houses, and the
proprietors had them carried away, with their furniture, in less
than an hour. Their hearth or chimney is a basket-full of earth,
supported by three sticks, like a tripod. In the same manner,
they place the fires in the forests when hunting the elephants."

"RESTRICTIONS ON COMMERCE.

" Commerce requires a certain liberty. No person can resolve
to go to Siam, necessarily to sell unto the king what is carried
thither, and to buy of him alone what we would carry thence,
when this was not the product of the kingdom. For though there
were several foreign ships together at Siam, the trade was not
permitted from one ship to the other, nor with the inhabitants
of the country, natives or foreigners, till that the king, under
pretence of a preference due to his royal dignity, had purchased
what was best in the ships, and at his own rate to sell it after-
wards as he pleased : because that, when the season for the de-
parture of the ships presses on, the merchants choose rather to
sell to great loss and dearly to buy a new cargo, than to wait at
Siam a new season to depart without hopes of making a better
trade." [In illustration of this extract, see the account of Mr.
Crawfurd's embassy.]

" GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SIAMESE.

" In general the Siamese have more moderation than we have.
Their humours are as calm as their heaven, which changes only
twice a year, and insensibly, when it turns by little and little
from rain to fair weather, and from fair weather to rain. They
act only by necessity, and do not, like us, place merit in action.

250 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

It seems not rational to them that labour and pains should be
the fruit and reward of virtue. They have the good fortune to
be born philosophers, and it may be that if they were not born
such, they would not become so more than we. I therefore
willingly believe what the ancients have reported, that philo-
sophy came from the Indies into Europe, and that we have been
more concerned at the insensibility of the Indians than the
Indians have been at the wonders which our inquietude has
produced, in the discovery of so many different arts, whereof we
natter ourselves, perhaps to no purpose, that necessity was the
mother."

MAXIMS OF THE PRIESTS.

MAXIMS OF THE TALAPOINS, OE PEIESTS,
OP SIAM.

LOUBERE gives a translation from the Siamese of the maxims
of the Talapoins, or Priests of Siam. A selection of these is
given in the following pages. Some are omitted, which consider
several of the actions of the priests rather " too curiously." The
remarks within brackets are those of Loubere :

Kill no man. [They not only do not kill, but they never strike
any person.]

Steal not.

Glorify not yourself, saying that you have arrived at sanctity.
[Every man who is not a Talapoin cannot become holy, that is to
say, he cannot arrive at a certain degree of merit.]

Dig not the earth. [This command is said to be laid down out
of a strange kind of respect entertained for the "mother of
us all."]

Cause not any tree to die. [They are prohibited from even
cutting a branch.]

Kill no animal.

Drink no intoxicating liquor.

Do not eat rice after dinner. [They may eat fruit in the
evening, and chew betel all the day long.]

Kegard not songs, dances, nor players on instruments.

Use no perfumes.

Neither sit nor sleep in a place as high as that of your superior.

Keep neither gold nor silver. [They are prohibited from
touching it, but this rule is ill observed. The trade of a Talapoin
is a trade to grow rich, and when they are wealthy enough, they
quit the temples and marry.]

252 EESIDENCE IN SIAM.

Entertain not yourself with things that do not concern
religion.

Do no work which is not the work of religion.

Give not flowers unto women.

Contract not friendship with laymen, in hopes of receiving
alms from them.

Borrow nothing of laymen.

Lend not unto usury, though it be only a single cory.

Keep neither lance, nor sword, nor any arm of war.

Eat not excessively.

Sleep not too much.

Sing no worldly songs.

Play not on any instrument, and eschew all sports and
diversions.

Judge not your neighbour ; say not that he is good or this is
wicked.

Do not shake your arms in walking. [This rule is little
observed.]

Climb not upon trees. [The reason for this rule is, the fear of
breaking any of the branches.]

Bake no tile, nor burn any wood. [This is out of respect to
the earth and the wood. It is as bad to bake a tile as to bake
rice, and it is a wicked act to destroy wood.]

Wink not with your eyes in speaking, and look not with
contempt.

Labour not for money. [The Talapoins ought to live on
charity, and not on the labour of their hands.]

Look not upon women to please your eyes.

Make no incisions that may draw blood.

Neither buy nor sell anything.

In eating do not make the noise tchibe, tchibe, tchiabe, tchiabe, as
dogs do. [This is the unpleasant noise which some persons make
in chewing slowly and gently.]

Sleep not in a place exposed to view.

Give no medicines which contain poison. [This is on account

MAXIMS OF THE PRIESTS. '253

of the danger of killing. They are, however, not prohibited
from the art of physic, on the contrary, they practise it to a
great extent. From this circumstance the Siamese, so far from
being scandalised to see the missionaries practising medicine,
tolerate and love them all the more. It is necessary that the
missionaries should freely cure the sick, either by the art of
medicine or by miracle.]

SINS

If, in walking along the streets, he has not his senses
composed.

If he do not shave his beard, his hair, and his eyebrows,
and dress his nails. [I know not whether this has any other
foundation than an excess of neatness.]

If, on being seated, he allows his feet to be suspended or
extended. [Modesty, in their opinion, requires that the legs
should be crossed, and the feet placed near the knees.]

If, after having eaten, he does not gather the remains for the
next day.

If he has not several garments.

If he seems to be as austere as a Talapoin of the woods, and
pretending to keep the rules more exactly than others, performs
his meditations in places where he is seen, while he observes
nothing of all this when he is alone and unobserved.

If he receives an alms, and goes presently to bestow it on
another.

If he speaks to a woman in a secret place.

If he concerns himself in any of the affairs of the king, except
those which concern religion.

If he cultivates the earth, or breeds ducks, poultry, cows,
buffalos, elephants, horses, pigs, dogs, after the manner of laymen.

If, in preaching, he does not speak in the Balie language.
[The Balie is the sacred as distinguished from the vulgar
language in Siam. This maxim is not well rendered in the

254 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

translation. Their way of preaching is to read out of the
Balie, where they ought to change nothing ; but they must begin
in the vulgar tongue, and say nothing which is not in the Balie.]

If he speaks one thing and thinks another.

If he speaks evil of another.

If, on being wakened, he does not rise immediately, but turns
himself on one side and the other. [It is necessary that it be the
hour of rising, that is to say, that there be light enough to
enable them to discern the veins of their hands.]

If he seats himself on the same mat with a woman.

If he bakes rice ; because it is a killing of the life that exists
in seeds.

If he eats anything that has not been offered to him with
joined hands. [This is a piece of vanity ; for the respect due to
the priests requires that everything be given with both hands.
The Talapoins believing themselves holy, think themselves
highly superior to the laymen, whom they consider as loaded
with sin. They salute no person, not even the king ; and when
the Sancrat, or superior priest, preaches or speaks to the king,
his Majesty places himself behind a veil. When the king cannot
avoid a Talapoin he salutes him ; but the Talapoin does not
salute the king.]

If he covets another's estate.

If he reviles the earth, the wind, the fire, the water, or any
other thing whatever.

If he excites persons to quarrel.

If he gets upon a horse, an elephant, or in a palanquin. [He
ought not to burden beast, nor man, nor tree.]

If he clothes himself with rich garments.

If he rubs his body against anything.

If he puts flowers in his ears.

If he wears shoes which conceal his heels.

If he plants flowers and trees. [The Talapoins consider it
sinful in them to dig holes in the earth.]

If he receives anything from the hand of a woman. [The

MAXIMS OF THE PKIESTS. 255

woman lays the alms which she bestows on the Talapoin in
some place, and the Talapoin takes it where the woman has
put it.]

If he loves not every one equally. [That is not to say that he
must love another as well as himself.]

If he eats anything that has life ; as, for example, the grains
which may yet bear fruit. [But they are not forbidden to eat
anything that has had life.]

If he cuts or plucks up anything that has yet life.
If he makes an idol. [They consider the idol is above the
man, and therefore it is inconsistent that the idol should be the
work of the man, because in justice the work is inferior to the
workman. The laymen, therefore, who make the idols are
thereby guilty of sin ; but, according to the priests, that kind of
sin is inevitable. There are, however, no household idols, so
that the laymen make idols only for the temple.]

If he does not fill up a ditch which he has made. [He sins
in making the ditch, and he sins if he does not repair the evil he
has done.]

If having no work to do he tucks up the tail of his pagne.
If he eats in gold or silver.

If he sleeps after he has eaten, instead of performing the
service of religion.

If after having eaten what has been given to him in charity,
he pleases to make remarks on the food, saying this was good
or that was not good. [These maxims savour of sensuality, and
not of mortification.]

If he glorifies himself by saying, " I am the son of a mandarin,"
or, " My mother is rich."

If he wears red, black, green, or white pagnes. [The usual
colour of the priest's dress is yellow.]
If in laughing he raises his voice.

If in preaching he changes something in the Balie text to
please sinners.

If he gives charms to render persons invulnerable. [They

256 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

believe it possible to render themselves invulnerable against the
blows of the executioners in the execution of justice.]

If he boasts that he is more learned than the rest.

If he covets gold or silver, saying, " When I go out of the
convent, I will marry, and be at expense."

If he grieves to lose his relations by death. [It is not lawful for
the Cremg, that is the saints, to lament the Cahat, or the laymen.]

If he goes out in the evening to visit any persons except his
father or mother, or his sisters, or his brethren, or if he should
unawares contrive to quarrel by the way.

If he gives pagnes of gold or silver to other than his father or
mother, brethren or sisters.

If he runs out of the convent to seize pagnes, or gold or silver
which he may suppose some one has stolen.

If he sits upon a carpet interwoven with gold or silver which
has not been given to him, but which he himself has caused to
be made.

If he sits down without taking a pagne to sit upon. [This
pagne is called a Santat, and serves to raise the Talapoin when he
is seated. Sometimes they make use of a buffalo's skin several
times folded for this purpose.]

If, while walking the streets, he has not buttoned a certain
button worn in the garment, and if, on going into a balon or
canoe, he does not unbutton this very button. [I know not the
reason for this maxim.]

If, seeing a company of maidens seated, he coughs or makes a
noise to induce them to turn their heads.

If he does not put his clothes on very early in the morning,

If he runs in the street as if he were pursued.

If he has not learned certain numbers and calculations.
[They are superstitious numbers.]

If, going into any one's house, he makes a noise with his feet
and walks heavily.

If he judges of the persons that he sees, saying, " This one is
handsome," or, " That one is unhandsome."

MAXIMS OF THE PRIESTS. 277

If he boldly looks upon men.

If he derides or rails at any one.

If he sleeps on something high.

If he wrangles with any one at the same time that he eats.

If in eating he lets rice fall on one side and the other.

If, after having eaten and washed his feet, he picks his teeth
and then whistles with his lips in presence of laymen.

If he threatens any one with punishment so as to make himself
feared.

If, in going anywhere, he resolves not to keep the command-
ments.

If he washes his body and takes the current of the water above
another Talapoin older than himself.

If he forges iron. [This also proceeds from their desire not to
extinguish life. Iron cannot be forged without extinguishing
the fire which has made it red.]

If, while meditating on the things of religion, he doubts of
anything he does not clearly understand, and yet, out of vanity,
will not ask another who might explain it.

If he knows not the three seasons of the year, and how he
ought to make the conferences at every season. [The three
seasons are the Winter, the Little Summer, and the Great
Summer.]

If he knows that another Talapoin owes money to any one,
and nevertheless enters into the temple with this Talapoin.
[We have before seen a rule which prohibits them to borrow
from laymen.]

If he is at enmity or angry with another Talapoin, and yet
comes with that Talapoin to the conferences which are made
about matters of religion.

If he terrifies any one.

If he causes any one to be seized by whom he loses less than a
tikol. But if he loses more than this sum he must be dismissed.

If he gives medicines to a man who is not sick. [Preventive
medicines are not allowed.]

278 RESIDENCE IN SIAM.

If he whistles with his mouth to divert himself.

If he cries like robbers.

If he makes a fire or covers it. [It is not lawful to kindle the
fire, for that is destroying what is burned, nor to cover it for
fear of extinguishing it.]

If he eats any one of these eight sorts of flesh ; viz., of a man,
an elephant, a horse, a serpent, a tiger, a crocodile, a dog, or
a cat.

If he goes daily to beg alms at the same place.

If he causes a basin to be made of gold or silver to receive
alms. [They receive alms in an iron plate.]

If he puts his hand into the pot.

If, in eating, he besmears himself round the mouth like a little
child.

If he begs alms, and takes more than he can eat in one day.

If, in going to beg alms, he coughs that he may be seen.

If in walking the streets, he covers his head with his pagne, or
puts on his hat, as laymen sometimes do. [They shelter them-
selves from the sun with a fan in the form of a screen, which
they call Talapat.}

If in going to sing, or rather to rehearse, at a dead man's
house, he does not reflect upon death, upon the certainty of all
persons dying, upon the instability of human things, and upon
the frailty of man's life. [This is partly the matter of their song
over dead bodies.]

If in eating, he does not cross his legs. [In general, they can-
not sit otherwise on any occasion.]

If being with laymen, and wrangling with them, he extends
his feet.

INDEX.

A MERIC AN embassy to Siam, 226 ; its failure,
227.

American Missionaries, visit from, 26;
instances of their want of courtesy, 27.

Avrivats; great numbers of at Pigeon
Island, 195.

BANGKOK, first view of, 25 ; morning view
of, 21 ; population of, 30 ; pagodas. 33 ;
bazaars, 34 ; sale of daughters by their
parents, 35 ; mode of spending time at,
38 ; dockyards, 42 ; fire at, 199.

Bankruptcy among Siamese merchants
often pretended, 177.

Battledoor and shuttlecock, manner of
playing it in Siam, 94.

Bazaars at Bangkok, 34.

Betel-nut, use of, 153.

Births, ceremonies at, 155.

Britain ; Great, exports from to Siam, 176.

CALM in the China Seas. 167.

Cambogia; wreckers on the coast of, 169.

Canoes, navigation on the Menam, 21:
floating mercantile, 35.

Ceremonies at marriages, 58; at funerals,
61 ; at births, 155.

Chanti Boon ; description of, 102 ; sail up
the river, 108 ; curious old government
official, 109; district of Chanti Boon
well suited for rearing silk-worms,
112; animals found in its neighbour-
hood, 114.

Chaumont, Chevalier de, his embassy to
Siam, 214 ; his return to France, 217.

Chau Naraya, King of Siarn, his character
and history, 210; his fondness for
practical jokes, 211 ; his reception of
French ambassadors, 215; rebellion
against, 218 ; dethronement of, 218.

China; imports from, into Siam, 173.

Chinese, numbers of, in Siam, and their
influence, 68.

Chinese cooks on the Menam, 24; their
cookery, 141.

Chinese merchants in Siam ; their jealousy
of the English, 222.

Chinese trading Junks; mode in which
business is transacted by them, 174.

Chou-Faa, Prince, asks author to cast a
cannon, 32 ; character of the prince, 87 ;
his desire for knowledge and love of
literature, 88; his military exercises,
89 ; skill in repairing watches, 90; his
family, 92 ; description of a party at his
house on Christmas day, 93.

Cholera Morbus, ravages of, 82.

Christianity, request from King of Siam

for preachers of, 209; unsuccessful

attempts of French to convert king to,

217.
Christmas in Siam ; how the author spent

it, 92.

Climate of Siam, on the whole, healthy, 78
Cobra de Capella, curious habits of, 115.
Cochin Chinese, dispute between them

and Siamese, 161 ; they seize Siamese

junks, 162.
Commercial restrictions imposed by

Siamese government, 177, 181.
Consett, Prenawi, Lord High Admiral, 23 ;

his courtship, 59.
Councils of the king about conduct of

Cochin Chinese, 162.
Court ceremonies, account of, 53.
Courtship in Siam, 59.
Crawfurd, Mr., his embassy to Siam, 223;

its difficulties, 224 ; its reception, 225 ;

negotiations for commercial treaty

226 ; their failure, 226.
DAY at Bangkok, description of, 35.
Dead, burning of the, 62.
Diseases prevalent in Siam, 74.
Dockyards at Bangkok, 25 ; description of

48.

Drum fish in the Menam, 20.
Dutch, their intrigues against the French

embassy to Siam, 218 ; their dethrone-
ment of the King of Macassar, 219.
EDUCATION of children, 156.
Elephants, white, considered sacred in

Siam, 96 ; visit to, and description of, 99.
European intercourse with the East, 221.
Expedition against Cochin China, 163.
FESTIVAL of the peace-offering, description

of, 125, 130.
Fire at Bangkok, 199.
Fish, novel mode of catching, 139.
Flowers, profusion of, at Pigeon Island, 193.
French embassies to Siam in reign of

Louis XIV., 213; the ambassadors,

214; interview with the king, 216;

haughty conduct of the French, 217 ;

consequences of, 218; their expulsion

from Siam, 219.
Funeral ceremonies, 61.
GAMBLING ; nobles and opulent merchants

much addicted to, 150.
HOUSES, mode of fastening and removing,

29 ; mode of construction and its dis-
advantages, 31; infested by reptiles

71.
Hunter, Mr.. 32 description of his house

32.

280

INDEX.

INDIA, exports from, to Siam, 176.

JAPANESE, their influence in the history of
Siam, 208.

Jesuits, their missions to Siam, 211 ; un-
successful attempts to convert the king
to Christianity, 215, 217.

Johore, offer of the king of, to expel
French from Siam, 218.

KING of Siam, audience with, 52 ; great
jealousy and fear of the British, 179.

LANGUAGE of Siam, 238.

Lanterns, Feast of, at Bangkok, 26.

Legend of the King's daughter, or " Old
Sol and Rosy Morn," 126.

Loubere's account of the Siamese in 1687,
262.

Louis XIV., his embassies to Siam, 211 ;
nature of his projects, 214 ; defeat of
these, 217.

MACASSARS, revolt of, in Siam, 218.

Marines of the Siamese navy, 163; their
thorough inefficiency, 167.

Market-boats on the Menam, 21.

Map of Siam, drawn by the Prime Minister,
55.

Marriage ceremonies, 58.

Menam, river, tides in, 13 ; voyage up, 19 ;
description of scenery on banks, 24;
harbour of refuge at mouth, 181 ; how
the river may be easily improved, 186.

Mines of Siam, 177, 266.

Missionaries, American, controversies
among, 34.

Missions, French Catholic, 39 ; high cha-
racter of the missionaries, 40 ; their
influence over the Siamese, 41.

Monkeys, reason why they are respected in
the East, 71.

Monsoon, description of, 79.

Mulberry Tree may be cultivated with ad-
vantage in Siam, 187.

Musical instruments of the Siamese, 234.

NAVY of Siam, 43; how the ships are em-
ployed, 44 ; organisation of the navy,
45 ; the marines, 163.

OPIUM smoking, nobles and opulent mer-
chants much addicted to, 150 ; effects
of, 150.

PAGODAS at Bangkok, description of, 33.

Paknam, arrival at, 1 2 ; government regu-
lations, 13; diminutive fort at, 14;
account of inhabitants, 16 ; attack of,
on the English, 16 ; punishment of, for
the offence, 17 ; interview with the
governor, 18.

Paklat Belo, description of, 20.

Paklat Boon, description of, 22 ; dockyards
at, 23.

Parrots, shooting of, at Pigeon Island, 196.

Peer-si-pi-foor, narrative of his rebellion,
48.

Pepper, value of shipments from Siam in
1841, 69.

Phaulkon, Constantine, his history, 212;

influence in Siam, 213; his intrigues,

217; his death, 219.

Pigeon Island, shooting excursion to, 190.
Population of Bangkok, 30.
Portuguese serving as soldiers in Burmese

army against Siam, 207.
Portuguese Consul, anecdote about the

residence of, 46 ; habits of the Consul

and missionaries, 47.
Portuguese, embassy from King of Siam to,

at Goa, 209.
Priests, appearance of, in the morning, 36 ;

maxims of, 271.

Prisons, public, description of, 34.
Pulo Bardia, account of, 120.
Pulo Obi, description of. 9.
Punishment of a rebel in Siam, 51.
RATS, domestication of, 71.
Rebellion of Peer-si-pi-foor; narrative of

and punishment of, rebel, 48.
Reptiles ; houses infested by them, 71.
SAILORS ; English, adventure with, 203.
Siam, geographical account of, 67 ; its

productions, 69 ; its export trade, 69 ;

animals found in, 71 ; nature of its

climate, 78; vegetables produced, 85;

its great capabilities, and how these

could be developed, 187.
Siam ; history of; early records, 206 ; inva-
sion of Burmese in 1568, and subjection

of the Siamese, 207 ; re-assertion of

their independence, 208.
Siamese; their division into two tribes,

68; gradations of rank, 70; food used,

74; general temperance, 75; diseases

to which subject, 75; general character

of, 147 ; their habits and customs, 149 ;

description of women, 153; education

of, 156.
Siamese despatches ; description of, 197 ;

curious adventure with one, 198.
Singapore, trade of Siam with, 175.
Songs of the Siamese ; the Boatman's Song,

230 ; the Culprit Priest's lament, 231.
Sugar cane, 22.
TEA, excellent quality of that used in

Siam, 173.

Tombs of the three kings, 33, 57.
Trade of Siam, reason why the value of

imports is so small, 69 ; imports from

China, 173 ; visits of Chinese trading

junks, 175; exports to Singapore, 175;

imports from India and the Straits of

Malacca, 176; imports from Great

Britain. 176; restrictions on trade,

177.
Typhoon in the Chinese seas, description

of, and its effects, 4, 166.
WHIRLWIND, effects of, in Siamese Gulf,

119.
YUTHIA, description of ruins of, 143.

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